The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL)

jksander · 06-06-2025, 12:08 PM

January 1, 1871: As the game of baseball has begun to grow in regional popularity throughout the southern Indiana region, particularly along the Ohio River, and such as that small towns have been clamoring for an opportunity to have players showcase their given talents upon the baseball diamond in a way that each town can build up a reputation for exceptional sportsmanship, a group of like-minded businessmen have gathered to create at this time an organization for the promotion of such exemplary athleticism. That conglomerate of baseballer clubs will from here forward be known as the Ohio River Baseball League, and will consist of thirty-six teams spread over six counties in southern Indiana: Perry, Spencer, Dubois, Warrick, Vanderburgh and Gibson. These teams will play through a 140-game season each year from mid-May through the end of October, and will eventually crown six division champions and a pair of wild-card teams who will then complete in a playoff tournament to determine the ORBL’s annual champion. The following towns will compete in this league going forward:

Perry Division
Gatchel Baseball Club
Troy Baseball Club
Cannelton Baseball Club
Leopold Baseball Club
Tell City Baseball Club
Derby Baseball Club

Spencer Division
St. Meinrad Baseball Club
Rockport Baseball Club
Santa Claus Baseball Club
Lincoln City Baseball Club
Christney Baseball Club
Grandview Baseball Club

Dubois Division
Celestine Baseball Club
Holland Baseball Club
Ferdinand Baseball Club
Birdseye Baseball Club
Jasper Baseball Club
Huntingburg Baseball Club

Warrick Divison
Lynnville Baseball Club
Newburgh Baseball Club
Boonville Baseball Club
Tennyson Baseball Club
Elberfeld Baseball Club
Chandler Baseball Club

Vanderburgh Division
Evansville Baseball Club
Darmstadt Baseball Club
Knob Hill Baseball Club
Mechanicsville Baseball Club
Highland Baseball Club
Melody Hill Baseball Club

Gibson Division
Fort Branch Baseball Club
Oakland City Baseball Club
Haubstadt Baseball Club
Patoka Baseball Club
Princeton Baseball Club
Francisco Baseball Club

My name is Edwin Burke, and I’m running the Tell City Baseball Club in the Perry Division. The league is running a draft of interested players to fill our rosters, a ten round draft that will provide each team with two thirds of its roster. We’ll then spend the rest of the spring finding additional players through tryouts, and will start our inagural season in May!

jksander · 06-06-2025, 12:21 PM

May 1, 1871: We’re a few weeks away from starting the first season of ORBL baseball competition, and we’ve got our rosters set and ready to go! The league limits teams to 15 players on the major league roster, with a ten-man reserve roster available for player development and injury replacement purposes. Each team will use a two-man starting rotation, with most teams keeping at least two and sometimes three pitchers for “relief” work, though starters can pitch relief innings as well, so regardless of what happens, the two pitchers on each team who are designated as starters are expected to pitch a large percentage of their team’s innings. We’ve chosen to just carry two relievers on our 15-man, which will allow us to have greater flexibility in alternating defensive players in tight games.

Starting Lineup
C Tony Alegre, 23 ... above average fielder, should hit very well for contact
1B Alex Centino, 18 ... aggressive at the plate, average contact, good strike zone recognition
2B Ismael Chinea, 28 ... good power swing, good plate discipline, acceptable fielding ability
3B Steve Hopkins, 22 ... incredible contact ability, should challenge for the league batting title constantly
SS Chris Johnston, 22 ... above average defensive infielder, great pop off the bat but a slow runner ... a premier shortstop
LF Mike Stratton, 14 ... advanced approach at the plate, solid but not flashy on defense ... young, but his athleticism is getting him off the farm
CF Randy Musselman, 28 ... has great speed, is very athletic in center field, has good pop off his bat and is a clubhouse leader
RF Ryan Carl, 16 ... another young farm kid, should hit plenty of homers, knows when to swing and when not to ... loads of promise

Active Bench
C Bubba Masiello, 25 ... should draw plenty of walks, good contact with the bat, big league average type of player
2B David Chesnut, 18 ... should develop into above average defender, has above average speed and is a switch-hitter with a sweet swing
LF Alex Fernandez, 20 ... excels at drawing walks, and has plus power potential and would be a starter if he could make consistent contact

Starting Pitchers
1 Glen Cadenhead, 27 ... deep repetroire of five pitches, all “stuff” but little control ... but his stuff is phenomenal, an ace in this era
2 Aaron Bjornson, 17 ... a stocky lefty Swede hurler ... raw stuff but above average control with plus changeup, splitter and curve

Bullpen
ST Joe McDonald, 19 ... “The Muncie Mauler,” has a brilliant fastball and changeup, highly adaptable, a true high leverage reliever
MR Eric Behmer, 21 ... right handed pitcher with a potentially devastating changeup, could become an ace but is undeveloped

Reserve Roster
SP Ryan Cronin, 37 ... clubhouse leader, hopes to become a starter in the ORBL if his age doesn’t slow him
SP Jim Novak, 44 ... he’s old and fragile, but has a six pitch mix so he has a chance if we get decimated by injuries
RP Drew Bellomy, 24 ... has a good arsenal but lacks control, his high walk rate may keep him from being a high leverage reliever
RP David Rosenberger, 18 ... has a decent fastball and one of the best curveballs in the league, but needs to develop his wandering command
2B Paul Alley, 29 ... good discpline at the plate but struggles to make contact consistently, a borderline player
2B Danny Hall, 18 ... needs to develop but has excellent power potential, and could become a league leading infielder
2B Bobby Marietta, 28 ... great speed and stealing ability, loyal and has work ethic, makes regular contact with an aggressive approach
3B Bobby Soto, 29 ... needs a lot of improvement at the plate if he wants to ever get off the reserve squad, replacement level at best
SS Jimmy Hall, 28 ... good contact, quick hands, can hit for some power ... stands a solid chance of promotion if he keeps working at it
LF Danny Graham, 30 ... basically here as a desperation outfield option, it’s questionable he has what it takes ... replacement level at best

Eric Boehmer is our best “prospect,” voted by the regional press as the #8 youth prospect in the league. Aaron Bjornson was picked 11th, Joe McDonald at 14th and Danny Hall 28th, and we have a total of eight young players who were ranked in the top 50 among all 36 ORBL teams. Since our league does not as of yet allow trading and our roster limits keep teams to a maximum of 25 total players on contract at any given time, until those rules are changed by a majority of team owners we have to work within that framework -- and as it stands I am confident we have a team right now that can compete on the field immediately while holding good promise for your young players to eventually find their way into competition. Fighting for spots on the reserve roster over time will likely become insanely heated, with very few spots and teams competing to find new young prospects to fill them. So guys like Graham, Soto and Alley on our reserve roster will need to keep putting in the work if they expect to have a chance in this league.

The Ohio River Baseball League is considered a minor league "independent" operation, so teams will only accrue minor league stats. As the world expands we expect to see a "Major League" of truly professional teams develop, but this is real small town baseball with a real regional bent.

jksander · 06-06-2025, 12:24 PM

May 15, 1871: Let’s take a look at league financials. With our team as an example, all of our players on the major league roster combine for around $2,678, with minor league contract costs of our reserve roster keeping us right around $2,813. We operate under the reserve clause, so player contracts will auto-renew at an arbitrated rate unless we choose at the end of the season to sever ties with a player. Our team salaries put us 33rd out of 36 teams in the Ohio Valley Baseball League -- Holland Baseball Club has the lowest, at $2,275, while the Patoka Baseball Club is spending $5,338 this year. We’ve opted, however, to put an emphasis on finding young players with a lot of upside and putting money into developing them ... our current overall budget is $8,500, and we’re putting $3,366 of that into development, by far the highest amount in the league this first season. For the most part tickets around the league are set at a dime each, and though we’ve been picked by the local press to finish close to last in the division, teams appear to be pretty equal across the board and competition is expected to be razor-sharp all year, so anything can happen. We sold nearly 500 season tickets, and are expected to have attendance around 1,100 per game, and we’re anticipating profits of around $2,100 this first year.

Right now the league is operating with a cash cap of $7,500, which should force team owners to invest capital in their teams rather than raking in tons of cash and sitting on it. Whether teams will choose to invest heavily in development like we are, or choose to offer higher contracts to induce new signings, that will remain to be seen. For now we’re only allowed to offer one year contracts to players which makes sense with our small rosters and the reserve clause contract rules.

Our season officially will open in a week and a half, when we travel to play the Holland Baseball Club on the 24th and 25th of this month. The season will consist of 140 games, played in seventy series of two games apiece, going through the third week of October, after which the six division winners and two wildcards with the best record among non division winners will take part in three rounds of playoff baseball.

jksander · 06-06-2025, 12:34 PM

May 24, 1871: Today we played our first game of the season against Holland in front of nearly 1,200 of their fans, and in the top of the fourth wek took a two-run lead thanks to an RBI single by Ismael Chinea and a passed ball moments later that allowed Chris Johnston to score from third! We added on a run in the fifth and three more in the sixth to turn the game into a blowout. They never recovered, and we blanked them in the end 6-0, outhitting their team 11-4! Both pitchers went the distance, and Glen Cadenhead only allowed four hits, walking three and striking out two as he picked up the win. We had four players hit twice each, with Chris Johnston leading the way with two hits, a walk, a run and an RBI. Mike Stratton had a hit and two RBIs as well, as we thoroughly dominated our first opponent of the season.

May 25, 1871: In our second game against Holland, they took the lead in the bottom of the first off a hit into a fielder’s choice by Randy Leishman, their 23-year-old centerfielder. We tied it up in the top of the fifth when a wild pitch allowed Randy Musselman to score from third, and though we traded leads a couple times in the middle innings, this one was knotted up at 3-all heading into extras. In the bottom of the 10th we had two outs, but their third baseman Willie Aleman reached first on an E3 error that allowed Leishman to score the winning run as Holland split the series with a 4-3 win. Aaron Bjornson took the loss, allowing seven hits through 9.2 innings with two walks, a strikeout and four runs ... though only two were earned so he starts his year with a 1.86 ERA. We outhit Holland 8-7, led by Randy Musselman who had two hits and a run scored.

May 26, 1871: This afternoon we got to have our home opener, facing Celestine in the first of two games. We had 1,184 fans along the knolls around our home field, and they all came to boisterous life when, in the bottom of the fifth, Ryan Carl and Glen Cadenhead both scored as Alex Centeno took first on an E5 error! That’s all the “offense” either team had to put forward, but it was enough as we held tough to win 2-0! Glen Cadenhead improved to 2-0 and has yet to give up any runs, though today he allowed nine hits without a walk or a strikeout. They managed to outhit us 9-5 and not score a run, and nobody on our team got more than one hit (nobody walked for either team in the game, but we did strike out twice ... what a strange game this was!

May 27, 1871: In game two against Celestine, we broke it open with four runs in the bottom of the third, two of which came off errors! There were plenty of those to go around, though Celestine committed six to our four ... fielding prowess overall is not a real thing in this league it is abundantly clear. But we traded runs with them the rest of the way and held them off soundly 7-3 despite the miscues. We outhit them 9-6, led by Ismael Chinea with three hits and two RBIs while Randy Musselman added two hits, two runs and an RBI. Meanwhile Bjornson improved to 1-1 with a 1.45 ERA, allowing just six hits with a walk and three runs (one earned). It’s a long season, but so far we’ve not had to use our bullpen -- that will likely come into play the more extra innings battles we have.

May 28, 1871: We’ve started our season with a 3-1 record, but today we faced the Troy Baseball Club, who hosted this game with a perfect 4-0 record, winning three of their four games by one-run margins! Early on in this one it appeared they’d have their way with us just as easily -- they scored off a groundout in the bottom of the third and added on with an RBI single by their 35-year-old center fielder Kamar Edwards in the bottom of the seventh. But we erased their 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in our general style ... Chris Johnson hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Musselman from third, and then Ismael Chinea hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Alex Centeno! For the second time in a week we went into extra innings, and this time we had better luck ... in the top of the 10th Steve Hopkins scored off a wild pitch to give us the lead, and Glen Cadenhead iced it in the bottom of the inning, pitching around loaded bases by getting their pinch hitter out on a fly-out to short! Just like that we won 3-2, and they’re perfect no longer. Cadenhead, however, IS still close to perfect ... he gave up his first earned run (along with an unearned one) and is now 3-0 with a sparkling 0.32 ERA. Today he got through 10 innings with 10 hits and a walk.

Only one perfect team remains, and that is the Oakland City Baseball Club in the Gibson Division. They’re now 5-0, with Princeton sitting behidn them at 4-1. Our division may be the toughest early on, with us, Leopold, Gatchel and Troy now all tied at 4-1. Only Jasper (0-5) in the Dubois Division hasn’t yet won a game.

May 29, 1871: In the rubber match against Troy in today’s game we gave the crowd a show ... Troy took the lead 3-0 in the bottom of the third with a two-run single (thanks to an E8 error on our part) and a run scored off a passed ball, but we picked up two runs in the top of the fifth off errors, and then Steve Hopkins, our 22-year-old third baseman, hit the first home run in the history of the Tell City Baseball Club to tie it up! In the top of the sixth we took the lead when Bubba Masiello singled and, thanks to an E8 error, Ismael Chinea scored. Aaron Bjornson then hit an RBI single to make it a 5-3 lead. Troy got a run back in the bottom of the inning, but we staved them off from there, winning 5-4 to complete the two-game sweep! Bjornson (2-1, 1.95 ERA) allowed nine hits and a walk with four runs, three of them earned ... but he also hit three times with a run and an RBI, giving him a .273 average through his first three games. We outhit them 10-9, and we’re now in a three-way tie for first with Leopold and Gatchel.

We’ll finish out the month with a pair against Santa Claus Baseball Club here in Tell City ... they’re off to a miserable 1-5 start, and only one player on their team, and they only have 14 total runs batted in in their first six games. We don’t play Leopold until June 27-28, and won’t face Gatchel until July 6-7.

May 30, 1871: Both of our teams scored in the first inning of the opening game agianst Santa Claus, but their club picked up runs in the third and fourth to build a lead they held into the bottom of the seventh. That’s when we pounced! Steve Hopkins slid safely into home for a run on a botched fielder’s choice, Ismael Chinea hit a sac-fly to drive home Centino from third, and Tony Alegre reached on an E7 error, letting Hopkins score to put us up 4-3! Try as they might, Santa Claus couldn’t get anyone in to score from there, and we held them off to win this one by the one run. Cadenhead improved to 4-0, allowing 10 hits, three runs (two earned) and striking out a pair as his ERA “exploded” to 0.72. He continued our streak of complete games for our starters, but we’ll be glad to have solid bullpen arms when we need them. Our opponents outhit us 10-6, but we capitalized on more of their errors than they did of ours, which paid off in the end. Randy Musselman hit twice for two runs, giving him a .344 average, while Chinea hit himself up to .296 with a pair of hits and his fourth RBI of the year.

May 31, 1871: Tonight’s game was not our finest offensive performance by any stretch, but it was even worse from a defensive standpoint. Santa Claus hammered us for four runs in the top of the third, two coming off an RBI triple by third baseman T.J. Back, and we spent the rest of the game chasing them and never finding enough momentum. We also committed five errors to their four, they outhit us 8-7, and despite two runs for us in garbage time they still held tough to win 5-3. Aaron Bjornson only allowed one earned run, so our defense completely let him down ... though he let them hit eight times too as he fell to 2-2 with a 1.72 ERA. Bjornson is having the early trials you’d expect from a 17-year-old, so we’re not putting much stress on him to attain perfection. The wins will come.

We’ve decided to send 14-year-old Mike Stratton down to the reserve squad to pick up some experience as part of our practice group. He has hit .200 through eight games, but has looked lost in the outfield and likely needs development time before he’ll be ready to play consistently agains this level of competition. We’re bringing up 30-year-old Danny Graham to compete with Alex Fernandez for starts in left.

Rockport’s superb first baseman Will Black has been making waves in the first couple weeks, batting .594 with three doubles and seven RBIs, leading all hitters in the league by 72 points. Shortstop Jesus Lopez of Highland Baseball Club has a league high of 13 RBIs and a pair of homers, but his poor defense has dragged his team down and they’re currently sitting in last place in the Vanderburgh Division with a 2-6 record. Our ace Glen Cedenhead is one of four pitchers who are currently 4-0, but right now the pitcher with the best ERA is Corey Thomison, a 43-year-old former coal miner who plays for St. Meinrad ... through 27.1 innings over four appearances (three of them starts) he has only allowed one earned run, giving him a 0.33 ERA along with an 0.62 WHIP. This is not a league for strikeout pitchers, as four pitchers are currently combined for the lead in that category with eight each.

jksander · 06-06-2025, 09:56 PM

June 1, 1871: Elberfeld is our next opponent, and in front of 1,000 or so of their most ardent fans we took the lead in the top of the third with a single by Alex Centeno that was coupled with an E9 throwing error. We added three more in the top of the fifth, but Cadenhead did not fare well in the bottom of that inning, giving up seven runs in quick succession while getting just one out! He got us out of the inning, but in the bottom of the sixth we went to our bullpen for the first time all year, bringing out 21-year-old right-handed reliever Eric Behmer! In the top of the seventh we scored two runs off a single by Ryan Carl, getting back within a run, but they scored five runs across the seventh and eighth innings and we lost this one 12-7 in the end. Cadenhead fell to 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA, allowing eight hits and seven runs (six earned), and Behmer pitched three innings but allowed eight hits, a walk and five more runs (four earned) though he came in trailing by three and never once saw a lead. They outhit us 16-8, completely outclassing us in this one, though Carl did have two hits and two RBIs as our offensive leader.

June 2, 1871: This one was a bumpy ride ... we took a one run lead in the top of the first off an RBI single by Danny Graham, but Elberfeld took the lead with two RBI singles and a groundout in the bottom of the third. Randy Musselman hit into a fielder’s choice in the top of the fourth and after he stole second, an E2 fielding error allowed Ismael Chinea to score the tying run. But they added three runs on in the bottom of the fifth and it looked like that was going to be all it took. Musselman got us a run back with an RBI double in the sixth, but we went into the top of the ninth trailing still by two runs. That’s when we erupted! With two outs and the game looking like it was over, Danny Graham hit a two-run triple to tie the game and David Chesnut singled in the go-ahead with help from an E9 error! We got the outs we needed in the bottom of the inning to hold them off, beating Elberfeld 7-6 to split the series. Aaron Bjornson improved to 3-2 with a 1.97 ERA while pitching a complete game six-hitter, walking three, striking out one and allowing six runs, three of them earned. We outhit them 10-6, led by left fielder Danny Graham, who went 4-5 with a run and three batted in.

June 3, 1871: We’re back at home facing the 5-5 Mechanicsville Baseball Club, and this one quickly became a high scoring game ... we scored first, Musselman coming in to take the lead off a passed ball, but Mechanicsville hit two RBI singles, an RBI double and scored a fourth run off an E4 error to go up 4-1 midway through the second. We fought back valliantly, tying the score in the bottom of the eighth at 7-7 with another passed ball letting Danny Graham come home safely, and we shut them down in the top of the inning to give ourselves a chance to steal it in the bottom of the frame, but instead we left two runners stranded and this one went to extra innings. We brought out 19-year-old reliever Joe McDonald in the top of the 10th, and though they got the lead off a wild pitch in the top of the inning, we capitalized off two Mechanicsville errors in the bottom of the inning, and Ismael Chinea walked it off with a single as we stole this one 9-8 after ten innings! That gave McDonald the win out of the bullpen, having allowed no hits, no walks, no strikeouts and the one (unearned) run. Cadenhead was unlucky all night, allowing seven runs of which only one was earned, but he got us through nine innings, and we outslugged them 18-9 ... too bad this was a game of errors, with us committing nine to their eight. Our leadoff man, Bobby Musselman, was phenomenal as always, hitting 4-5 with a walk, three runs and an RBI, while Danny Graham hit two times for two runs.

June 4, 1871: Hard to top a win like yesterday’s, but we had the rematch against Mechanicsville today, and this time it was far less climactic. We scored in the first, third and fifth and then, with a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, we picked up three more ... and Musselman was involved in seemingly every huge play we made all game. We held firm from there and were able to win easily 6-1. Musselman was 3-4 with four runs scored, stealing a pair of bases as well -- he now has stolen ten bases this season, and we out hit Mechanicsville 10-5. Bjornson is on a roll, pitching another complete game, this time a five-hitter with two walks, a strikeout and one unearned run. He is now 4-2 with a 1.65 ERA through six starts.

June 6, 1871: The 7-5 St. Meinrad Baseball Club hosted us today for the first of two, as we bring our team into their house with a 9-3 record, currently good for second place in our county’s Division. And this one was a snooze from an offensive standpoint -- St. Meinrad took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI triple and an RBI single, and we never managed to even counter it. They outhit us 5-3 en route to the 2-0 shutout win, as Glen Cadenhead lost his second game of the season. He’s now 5-2 with a 1.83 ERA, tonight allowing five hits and two earned runs with just one strikeout as they squashed us defensively. We committed three errors, while they played clean defensive baseball, and only four players got on base for us the entire game. Not a recipe for success, but we can get ‘em back tomorrow.

June 7, 1871: In this one we got off to a quick start Musselman scoring off a single by Tony Alegre and Steve Hopkins scoring a few minutes later off the combination of a wild pitch and an E6 groundball error. But St. Meinrad got back into it efficiently, tying the game 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth off a pased ball. So we needed a rally, and this time we got a sustained one ... a single by Hopkins got us the lead back in the top of the sixth, and an error allowed Hopkins to score himself to add on a run. We got a run each in the seventh and eighth to add on, and were able to get out of town with a 7-3 victory, splitting the series against a tough opponent. It wasn’t pretty ... we had 10 errors to their eight, but we also outhit them 12-5, and Bjornson improved to 5-2 with a five-hitter, walking two and allowing just one earned run in all the craziness. He now has a 1.55 ERA and an 0.90 WHIP through his first 63.2 IP, and he’s looking like his vast arsenal of pitches are starting to come under his firm control. Randy Musselman led the offense with three hits and two runs scored, keeping his average as a solid .390 in the leadoff spot.

June 8, 1871: Francisco (7-7) are in town for a pair, and we’re ready to build off yesterday’s win and start to find momentum. But Francisco scored three in the top of the first and we spent the rest of the game trying to claw it all back. Ismael Chinea hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second, and Alex Centeno hit one in the bottom of the seventh. An inning later we tied the score at 3-3 when Alex Fernandez hit an RBI single that was coupled with an E8 error, and we shut them down in the top of the ninth, needing just a walkoff anything to get us the victory ... but we weren’t able to find a well-timed hit, and went into extras once again. Joe McDonald came out of the bullpen to start the top of the 10th, and we had a chance in the bottom of the inning when Tony Alegre reached on an E6 error with one out, stealing second AND third ... but Ryan Carl grounded out and Fernandez hit a pop-fly to left to keep this one going. Francisco finally broke through in the top of the 13th when, with men on second and third and two outs, their left fielder Brian McCarthy reached first on an E6 error, driving in both runs as he took second. Trailing by two runs in the bottom of the inning, we got a run back on two outs when Tony Alegre scored off a wild pitch, moments after stealing third, but we couldn’t get Ismael Chinea around to score, dropping this one 5-4 in a 13th inning heartbreaker. Glen Cadenhead gave us nine innings with six hits, two walks, a strikeout and three runs -- ALL unearned -- and Joe McDonald lasted four innings in relief with four hits, a walk and a strikeout, both of HIS runs being unearned as well. We had five errors to their four and outhit them 12-10, led by Centeno with three hits and an RBI, while Alegre had a hit, three steals and two runs scored.

June 9, 1871: In game two against Francisco we wasted no time in scoring, taking the lead in the bottom of the second when Danny Graham drove in a run off an error, with Ryan Carl hitting a two-run double a few minutes later. We had four runs heading into the top of the fifth when they got a pair back to make the game interesting. But Carl got us an insurance run with an RBI single in the sixth and we held on to win 5-2. Aaron Bjornson got his sixth win, improving to 6-2 with a complete game five-hitter with two runs (one earned) a walk and a strikeout, improving his ERA to 1.49. We outhit them 10-5 and stayed relatively calm in the error department with three, with Alex Centeno and Chris Johnson each hitting twice with a run scored. But those two have combined for 29 errors at first and shortstop, a common issue in this league where if you can get the ball into play, just about anything can happen.

June 10, 1871: We’re on the road this weekend in Jasper to face their club and its 7-9 record. Jasper is an outlier in the league, choosing to go with two starters and one ace bullpen “closer,” and they’ve yet to use their reliever in any games. They kept the game pretty close against us, despite a three-run third inning that really got us going early. Up 4-3 in the top of the ninth, we couldn’t buy any insurance, but Cadenhead was locked in and got three quick outs in the bottom frame to get us the one-run win. We outhit them 8-7, and Cadenhead improved to 5-2 while walking three and allowing three runs (one earned). Steve Hopkins led the way with a hit and two RBIs, while Danny Graham added two hits but was unable to score.

June 11, 1871: Tonight’s game was something of a reverse of yesterday’s, as we traded runs early and often, but after tying the score 3-3 in the top of the sixth thanks to a sac-fly by Bubba Masiello, we gave up two in the bottom of the inning to seal it. An RBI single in the seventh by Centeno kept us in the game, but we weren’t able to score in the top of the ninth and lost this one 5-4, splitting the series. Bjornson allowed ten hits and three walks, giving up five runs, four of which were earned ... dropping his record to 6-3 with a 1.79 ERA. They outhit us 10-9 and the two errors we did commit were costly ones. Chinea hit three times to nowhere while Graham added two hits a run and an RBI to his resume.

June 12, 1871: We’re off to a 12-6 start as Haubstaudt (pronounced HOB-stot) comes into town with eight wins and ten losses. The game was tied briefly at 1-1 after three innings, but we got two runs off passed balls during the same plate appearance in the bottom of the fourth ... Fernandez scored off the first, and after advancing from second, Chinea scored from third before Centeno eventually flew out to end the inning with us up 3-1 ... which ended up being the final score after we held them scoreless the rest of the way. Cadenhead had a complete game as usual, with six hits, three walks, a strikeout and the one earned run, and we outhit them 12-6 ... we had four errors, but Chris Johnson had three hits and an RBI, and Chinea added two hits and a run.

June 13, 1871: We’re back into a three-way tie for first in our division, and we’re among the six teams with 13-6 records atop the league standings. We took the lead this afternoon in the bottom of the first when Musselman and Centino pulled off a double steal, Musselman scoring off an E2 throwing error ... that was fun! Chris Johnson brought him home with a single, but we could have really run it up but instead left the bases loaded and took just a 2-0 lead into the second inning. They got on the board in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by their second baseman Jorge Fernandez, and a sac-fly moments later tied us up. We played around loaded bases and two errors in the top of the sixth to keep it that way, and we retook the lead off a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth on two outs, going up 3-2. We added on a run in the seventh, but they loaded the bases in the top of the eighth on one out, and Bjornson got wild, hitting their center fielder with a pitch to drive in a run. He got out of the jam, still leading by a run, and we were able to get through a tense top of the ninth with two runners in scoring position ... he held his own and we escaped with a 4-3 win without things getting out of hand. Bjornson only allowed five hits and three runs (two earned) but he walked seven batters against one strikeout, so he rode a fine line. We outhit them 13-5, which was our saving grace ... Graham had threee hits and a steal but couldn’t score, but Musselman was great in the leadoff spot, getting two hits, two stolen bases and scoring a run. He now has stolen 16 bases this season, which gives him a two-steal lead over his nearest competitor, Joe Kontor of Fort Branch. He’s been ideal in the leadoff spot so far, hitting .341/.356/.398 with five doubles and five runs batted in ... but he’s SCORED 24 runs, thanks mostly to his speed on the basepaths.

June 14, 1871: We’re almost to the month’s midpoint, and we’ll finish a four-game homestand by facing Derby Baseball Club (7-13) who are currently in fifth place in our very competitive division. Derby struck quickly with a run off a wild pitch in the top of the first, and they scored another in the top of the second off a passed ball! When it happened again in the third inning (again on two outs, again with a passed ball) to put them up 3-0, it started to get in our heads ... we still hadn’t had a hit! We got on the board in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Steve Hopkins, but they scored two off a triple by their center fielder Emanuel Sierra to add on in the fourth, and this was not looking like our best afternoon. They gave us an opening in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of errors and a wild pitch, however, and Masiello got a two-run double to get us right back in contention. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth on two outs but couldn’t deliver any runs, and they got a run back in the sixth to extend their lead to 6-3. In the bottom of the sixth we scored off a wild pitch to cut it back to two, and Steve Hopkins batted in another with a single to make it a one-run game, but they got one back to send us into the stretch trailing 7-5. We kept them from scoring any more runs, but came up to hit in the bottom of the ninth needing something good to happen for our frustrated bats. But Derby was locked in, and they had no trouble stopping us as they won 7-5, a tough loss against a divisional foe. Cadenhead fell to 6-3 with a 1.61 ERA, allowing 10 hits and seven runs (three earned) with one strikeout, and though we outhit them 11-10 and they committed seven errors to our four, our bats just fell short in this one ... Steve Hopkins led the way with three hits and two RBIs, while Bubba Masiello added a hit, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

June 15, 1871: We scored three runs in the bottom of the first and held a 4-1 lead in the top of the eighth, when Derby roared back -- they loaded the bases without an out, and Bobby Flores walked in a run to cut our lead to two in a dangerous spot. With one out, Bjornson gave up a fastball to Pat Pierce, their second baseman, who doubled in three runs to give them the lead. In a rare move, we pulled him for reliever Joe McDonald, who got us out of the inning without further damage. With two outs and runners on the corners, we tied the game up 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth when Alex Centeno reached first on an E1, scoring Alex Fernandez ... and we retook the lead when David Chesnut beat out an infield single on a fielder’s choice ... instead of going for the out at home, they threw late to first and Musselman scored from third! With our one run lead, McDonald came back out to finish the final frame, and he shut them down efficiently as we won 6-5. That gave him the win, improving his record to 2-1 with a 0.00 ERA, getting through 1.2 innings without a baserunner, protecting Bjornson who only lasted 7.1 innings with seven hits, two walks and five runs (three earned). We outhit them 11-7 and kept our errors to a minimum, which allowed us to hold them off and come back from the brink of defeat. David Chesnut led the way with three hits, a run and two RBIs, and we’ll reach the month’s midpoint with a 15-7 record and within a game of the division-leading Gatchel Baseball Club (16-6).

jksander · 06-07-2025, 12:22 PM

OOC: I hope you guys find this interesting ... the idea's been germinating in my head since around when OOTP25 came out, but I kept setting it up and the financials weren't working. I think with the cash cap things are going to work alright for this era, and if I start seeing anything go crazy I can modify things in the offseason as commissioner-slash-God. I want to go through a few seasons with the league as it is, and then would potentially add a second league that would include the other five counties in the region, plus eventually creating a fictional "Major League" above us (since I'm doing the ORBL as an Independent Minor League. My thought on that would be to set it up as a Midwest major league with teams in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Louisville, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Kansas City -- two four-team leagues that then put on a World Series at the end of the season. But it makes sense to me that smaller independent leagues would start up before bigger money-making national teams.

tm1681 · 06-08-2025, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jksander

OOC: I hope you guys find this interesting ... the idea's been germinating in my head since around when OOTP25 came out, but I kept setting it up and the financials weren't working.

Of course it's interesting! I always like seeing new fictional leagues pop up, and the stories behind them.

jksander · 06-08-2025, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tm1681

Of course it's interesting! I always like seeing new fictional leagues pop up, and the stories behind them.

Aside from Evansville, which by 1890 was the 56th largest urban area in the country with an 1870 population of 21,830 ... by 1900 it would reach nearly 60,000 ... all these other towns would have been 1,000 people or much less at the time, so truly small-town. Evansville's size at the time was due to being a major steamboat hub on the Ohio River, as well as a manufacturing, coal mining and hardwood lumber center. In fact, by 1900 it was among the WORLD's largest hardwood furniture centers ... I knew about this because Tell City (my hometown) used to be among the premiere manufacturing spots for handcrafted wood furniture -- if you ever find something from "Tell City Chair" buy it.

Looked up census data for 1870 and if I do a major league later in the decade it will likely include six midwest teams and six east coast teams:

Midwest
St. Louis (310,864)
Chicago (298,977)
Cincinnati (216,239)
New Orleans (191,418)
Louisville (100,753)
Cleveland (92,829)

East Coast
New York (942,292)
Philadelphia (674,022)
Brooklyn (396,099)
Baltimore (267,354)
Boston (250,526)
Washington (109,199)

jksander · 06-09-2025, 01:23 AM

June 16, 1871: It’s our first game of the year against the Boonville Baseball Club, and this one was a game for fans of scoring ... we picked up four runs in the top of the third and held a 6-3 lead midway through the sixth, but Boonville erupted for six runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a solid 9-6 lead on us. We went to the bullpen, bringing out Eric Behmer after the stretch, and they added two on in the bottom of the seventh inning. It wasn’t pretty at all, as they whipped us 11-6. Glen Cadenhead fell to 6-4 with a 2.32 ERA, allowing 12 hits in six innings with a walk and nine runs, all earned this time. They only outhit us 15-11, and Steve Hopkins was solid with three hits and a pair of runs.

June 17, 1871: This time we didn’t back off early after taking the lead -- up 5-0 after two, we added runs in the third, fourth and sixth to lead 8-2 on the Boonville club heading into the seventh inning stretch. A three-run eighth helped turn it into a bigger rout than what they did to us yesterday, and we easily defeated them for the series split 11-3. Aaron Bjornsen has steadily gotten better and better, he’s now 8-3 with a 1.87 ERA thanks to a complete game with 12 hits, a walk, a strikeout and three runs (one earned), and we turned around and outhit them today 15-12. Tony Alegre led the way with four hits, a run and two RBIs, and leadoff superstar Randy Musselman added three hits and three runs, adding two steals as he did it.

June 19, 1871: We’re back at home facing Lynnville (10-14), and we fought them hard though we trailed the entire way ... they picked up runs in the third, fifth and eighth, but we had a chance when we pulled within a run with a sac-fly by Alex Centeno in the bottom of the eighth. But we couldn’t make anything happen in the final frame and we lost this one 3-2. Glen Cadenhead continues to pitch well in games with little or no offense, and this time he allowed just eight hits in a complete game with three runs against him, one earned, but he got tagged with a loss and fell to 6-5 with a 2.21 ERA. Each team had eight hits, ours led by Centeno and Hopkins who each had a hit and an RBI. But in a game this close our three errors were three too many.

June 20, 1871: This one was tight early on, knotted 4-4 after five innings, but we took the lead with a single and an E8 error in the bottom of the sixth, Danny Graham coming in to score that run. In the bottom of the eighth Tony Alegre scored off a passed ball, and we held on from there to win this one 6-4! Bjornsen improved to 9-3 with a 1.72 ERA, allowing nine hits and four unearned runs while throwing just 87 pitches! They outhit us 9-8, but commited six errors to our four, and Centeno led the way with two hits, a run and an RBI.

So far the best pitcher in baseball has been Ricky Sandoval of the Holland Baseball Club. Sandoval has an 11-3 record through 14 starts, with a 1.22 ERA, 14 K’s and a 0.92 WHIP through 118 innings ... that gives him 2.4 wins better than any replacement pitcher would be able to theoretically put up. The 22-year-old has a curve and changeup that are damned near unhittable. The kicker is he’s only making $130 with their club! I suspect he’ll get a raise next year, though who knows by how much.

Though Randy Musselman isn’t leading the league in average, he’s the best hitter in the game based on wins above replacement (2.0) ... so far through his first 24 appearances he’s hit .342 and has stolen 26 bases in 29 tries, contributing 34 runs scored in the leadoff spot, while holding a +2.9 zone rating in center field (only four errors, that’s incredible in this league!) So we’re very happy to have him, to the point that we’ve offered him an extension to assure he’ll play for us next year, offering him a raise from $200 to $250.

June 21, 1871: We’re on the road against Princeton (13-13), one of the furthest teams in the league away from us geographically, and we played them well early on, building a lead slowly with runs in the first, third, fifth, and ninth. But despite our 4-1 lead heading into the final frame, nothing was gonna come easy here ... their fans were very loud and boisterous, and Glen Cadenhead got into real trouble, loading the bases with no outs. With McDonald warming in the bullpen, their catcher Manny Suarez reached on an error that scored a run and kept the bases loaded, and with two outs they walked in a run to make it a one-run ballgame! We brought McDonald out to the mound to get that final critical out, but the tying run scored thanks to an E5 error, so though we didn’t let them take the lead, this one was headed for extra innings after leading the entire ballgame. They won it in the bottom of the 10th when shortstop Andy Spencer scored off a passed ball to beat us 5-4. What an embarrassing loss. McDonald came in with the lead, so he took the blame ... blowing the save and falling to 2-2 with a 0.00 ERA, since his run was unearned. But the blame falls on Cadenhead for a sloppy ninth ... he finished with 8.2 innings and six hits, four walks and four runs (one earned). We outhit them 8-7, led by Steve Hopkins who had three hits, a run and two RBIs.

June 22, 1871: Bjornsen had a rough start today, and with our team trailing 9-4 with bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth against Princeton we had no choice but to go to Eric Behmer in the bullpen. He promptly gave up all of Bjornsen’s runs off a triple on one out, and a two-run homer turned this into a complete and utter destruction of our morale. It’s a long season, but games like this make it feel a hell of a lot longer. We kept Behmer out there the rest of the way to give him more experience, but it was a lost cause before the game’s midpoint as Princeton crushed us 16-5, outhitting us 19-9. Behmer actually improved his ERA, lasting 4.2 innings with seven hits, a walk and four earned runs, while 12 runs (nine earned) went against Bjornsen, who fell to 9-4 with a 2.36 ERA. Alex Centeno and Danny Graham each had two hits, a run and an RBI, but this was our first time all year getting swept in a two-game series as we now fall to 17-11 overall.

June 23, 1871: We’re back at home to play Fort Branch (14-13) and we’ve thus far failed to match the excitement of our late-May five-game winning streak, going 11-9 so far in the month of June. They took the lead first in the top of the second but we matched them, and it stayed close the rest of the way. We had a 4-3 lead heading into the top of the ninth, but Fort Branch got the lead with a two-run line-drive single on two outs, and in getting the final out we gave up another pair, going into the bottom of the inning trailing by three. That’s where it stayed, as Fort Branch beat us 7-4, extending our losing streak to three. Glen Cadenhead fell to 6-6 with a 2.33 ERA, allowing 11 hits, three walks and seven runs (five earned) with two strikeouts. We were outhit thoroughly 11-6, our bats led by Steve Hopkins and Chris Johnston with a hit and an RBI each (with Johnston also picking up a walk). Musselman added a hit and two runs and stole his 28th base as well.

June 24, 1871: This one was close through seven innings, until Fort Branch broke a 3-3 tie by outscoring us 6-1 in the final two innings. We lost this one 9-4, another humilating loss compounded by EIGHT ERRORS. Bjornson fell to 9-5 with a 2.40 ERA, and though six of his nine runs were unearned, he did allow 11 hits while striking out just two batters. They again outhit us 11-6, Chris Johnston leading our offense with three hits and a run. Randy Musselman, who is still hitting .336 with 28 stolen bases, has agreed to a $250 contract for the 1872 season and is the first player to officially have a year more of job security in this league.

June 25, 1871: We’re back on the road with our 17-13 record, facing off against the Birdseye Baseball Club and their 12-18 record. But with our four game losing streak, even a fourth place team in the Dubois Division looks daunting. And though we tied them up 4-4 with a three-run fifth inning, this game was pretty much the same as our most recent ones ... mid-game surge, end of game disappointment. We went into the top of the ninth trailing by three, and it didn’t change at all as they stumped us 8-5 and kept our losing streak going. Cadenhead fell to 6-7 and allowed 14 hits and eight runs, seven of them earned, while we got outhit 14-11. Centeno led the way with two hits, a run and two RBIs, but our offense (and our fielding in general) have been a letdown. There’s really not a ton of blame to put on our pitching ... there are nine players at any time contributing to this situation, and once the ball leaves his hand, he’s at the mercy of the other eight.

June 26, 1871: Birdseye built an early 3-1 lead on us, but we tied it in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Alex Centeno and a sac-fly by Steve Hopkins, taking the lead 4-3 in the top of the eighth with an RBI single by David Chestnut! Still leading by a run in the bottom of the ninth, all we needed was to close things out, and finally things went our way ... three quick outs and we held tough to win 4-3! Bjornson finally got his 10th win of the year, improving to 10-5 with a 2.31 ERA while allowing seven hits and three runs (one earned) with a single strikeout. Each team had seven hits, ours led by Centeno with two hits and an RBI.

June 27, 1871: It’s time for our first matchup of the year against our rivals from fifteen miles up the road, the Leopold Baseball Club! Leopold only has about 100 residents, but they and all the surrounding towns are fully supporting the team and its 19-13 record, and you could hear a vocal contingent of them who made the trip to see them on our field. We made quick work quieting them with a two-run bottom of the first, and then added two more runs to seal it in the bottom of the eighth. We held firm to beat them 4-0 in a brilliant shutout performance. They outhit us 8-7 and we committed a pair of errors, but our infield defense held. Cadenhead had one of his better games of the season, with eight hits and nothing else ... throwing 98 pitches as he improved to 7-7 with a 2.49 ERA. Ryan Carl had a good evening, hitting twice with two RBIs, and the win tied us with Leopold at 19-14, putting us at the top of a three-way tie for second in the division with Troy.

June 28, 1871: We scored runs in the second, third and fourth to build a 3-0 lead early in this one, and Leopold got its only run in the top of the sixth. We picked up a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth to put the game completely out of their reach, as we swept the two-game series with a 5-1 victory! Aaron Bjornson led the way from the mound with five hits, two strikeouts and an unearned run as he improved to 11-5, the 17-year-old showing incredible promise. We’re now alone in second place in the division with 20 wins already to our name, and we’re a game out of a potential playoff wildcard spot a quarter of the way through our 140-game season.

June 30, 1871: We’re set to play the Chrisney Baseball Club (17-17) on the road as the month draws closer to an end, and right now they’re only four games out of the wildcard, so like many teams we’ve yet to face we know going in they can do some damage. So we wanted to get out there and make a statement quickly. We got on the board with a run in the top of the first, but they matched us in the bottom of the frame, and this one stayed that way early. Cadenhead got us into the lead again with an RBI single in the top of the fourth, good going for our pitcher, and we added on with another in the top of the sixth to lead 3-1, a lead we held into the stretch. But we weren’t able to buy any insurance runs, so we went into the bottom of the ninth needing a lock-down frame. Cadenhead delivered, three quick outs, and we held tough to win 3-1. He pitched an incredible three-hit complete game, with one strikeout and the one (unearned) run, improving his record to 8-7 with a 2.34 ERA as he broke past the 150-inning threshold. We outhit Chrisney 10-3, led by Ismael Chinea who had three hits and a run, including a triple in the sixth, his second this year!

jksander · 06-10-2025, 12:27 PM

July 1, 1871: Chrisney got out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, and despite their committing of four errors in the first four and a half innings, we kept leaving runners on base without a chance to score. They added on a run in the bottom of the fifth, extending their lead to 3-0, but we showed signs of a spark in the top of the seventh when Musselman got on base with a single and then stole second AND third, but he tried for home on a sac-fly and was tagged out in a controversial call at home plate ... NO score. We finally got on the board in the top of the eighth when Chinea hit into a fielder’s choice, reaching safely when they failed to make the throw out at home, and Chris Johnston scored off a passed ball to suddenly put us back within a run with just one out and Chinea on second! Unfortunately we weren’t able to get the tying run in, so we came up to the plate in the top of the ninth needing some good energy. With McDonald warming in the bullpen, we pinch-hit 20-year-old left fielder Alex Fernandez for Bjornson, but he wasn’t able to get on base. They walked Musselman, but he wasn’t able to make anything heroic happen and we lost 3-2 despite us playing a perfect defensive game ... no errors to their seven ... and our having matched them 7-7 for hits. The top seven men in our lineup got a hit each, and Musselman had a walk and two steals as well, but Bjornson took the loss and fell to 11-6 after a seven hit one walk three run game, striking out two.

July 2, 1871: We’re back at home in Tell City, facing Melody Hill who are off to an 18-18 record, just three games behind us in the wildcard race with our team standing at 21-15. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, Musselman hit a solid shot down the left field line and drove in three runs with a triple, breaking this one wide open ... that was his third triple of the season! He scored off a sac-fly by Chinea, who has moved up to number two in our lineup, and Alex Centeno hit a screaming double down the left field line that drove home Steve Hopkins from first ... we were piling on now, taking a 5-0 lead into the top of the third! Centino hit his first triple of the year in the bottom of the fourth on two outs but didn’t get a chance to come in and score, but we added on a run in the fifth. Though Melody Hill finally did get on the board in the top of the sixth with a run, and they picked up a couple more desperation runs in the top of the ninth, we held tough to win this one 6-3, outhitting them 9-7 including a double and three triples! Glen Cadenhead improved to 9-7 with a seven-hitter, walking two and allowing three runs, all unearned -- his ERA has now improved to 2.21. Musselman led the way with two hits, a run and three batted in, while Tony Alegre added two hits and two runs.

July 3, 1871: In game two against Melody Hill they scored two quick runs in the top of the second, and they added on two more in the fifth. But we finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Bubba Masiello hit an RBI single that, thanks to an E9 throwing error, allowed Ryan Carl to score from first! With Masiello on second due to the error, Bjornson hit a single to advance him to third ... but we were unable to capitalize on it, going into the sixth trailing 4-1. We did score in the bottom of the sixth when Chris Johnston reached on an E6 error that scored Steve Hopkins from third, and with the bases loaded and one out we added on with a run off a wild pitch, at which point Masiello singled in Johnston to tie the score ... though Graham got greedy and was tagged out at home. We had the top of our hitting lineup at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, still tied up 4-4, and that’s when we pounced. Steve Hopkins batted in the go-ahead with a single, and by the time they shut us down to end the inning we’d scored five runs to take a commanding lead! But we got sloppy ... and this one became closer than it needed to be. With two outs in the ninth and men on first and second, they’d crawed back to within a pair and we had to bring out Joe McDonald to face their first baseman Matt Matthews. Matthews hit a line drive double to drive in Melody Hill’s eighth run, but we got the trailing runner out trying to slid ein to home, and with that we secured the 9-8 win by the skin of our teeth. Bjornson got the win, improving to 12-6 with 8.2 innings and 16 hits, but he struck out five and survived with eight runs (only six of them earned). He now holds a 2.44 ERA through 162 innings, while McDonald picked up his first “save” on two pitches, maintaining his 0.00 ERA now through eight innings. They outhit us 17-11 and we had five errors to their three, so we had no business winning this, but Alex Centeno had three hits, a walk and two runs scored and Bubba Masiello added two hits, a walk and two RBIs to lead our offense.

July 4, 1871: Happy 95th Birthday, America! We’re on the road in Newburgh to face their 13-win team, the fifth place team in the Warrick Division who are on a 2-8 stretch in their last ten games. Newburgh scored first with an RBI single in the bottom of the first, but we got it back on a groundout to first by Ryan Carl in the top of the second, and we took the lead on two outs with a hard-hit single by Cadenhead, who subsequently scored from there off a flyball double by Musselman, who trailed him to third when Cadenhead scored the run. They got a run back in the bottom of the second, but in the top of the fifth Tony Alegre hit an RBI double that scored two runs to extend our lead, starting a rally that wound up building us a 9-2 lead heading into the top of the sixth! Musselman scored a run in the seventh off a single by Hopkins to put us into double figures, and we went on to win this one easily 10-3. Glen Cadenhead improved to 10-7 with a 2.20 ERA, allowing 12 hits and one walk with three runs, two earned. We outhit them 18-12, and everyone in our lineup except Chinea hit twice or more ... but it was Tony Alegre who led the way, hitting three times for two runs and two RBIs.

July 5, 1871: We took the lead in the top of the second inning against Newburgh with a rarity, as Alex Centeno hit a leadoff homer over the left field fence, joining Bjornson and Hopkins as our only players to hit a home run this year! But Newburgh answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, so we knew we were going to be in for a fight. Our bats were hot though ... three quick shots into center loaded the bases in the top of the third, no outs, and a grounder through the gap by Hopkins (aided by an E8 throwing error) allowed two runs to score, tying the game. With two outs, Tony Alegre singled in Chinea, and an E9 error allowed Hopkins to come in behind him, giving us a 5-3 lead! Alex Centeno stunned the home crowd when he did what had seemed impossible, hitting his SECOND HOMER, this time over the right field wall to drive in two runs in the top of the fifth, and that seemed to break the team’s spirits ... we went on to score seven runs in the inning to turn this one into a total rout. We didn’t need any more offense after that, they were crushed and played like it the rest of the way as we won easily 12-3. We outhit them by a staggering 20-5 margin, led by Centeno with three hits, two runs and three RBIs, while Hopkins added three hits, two runs and four RBIs, though Centeno gets the most applause due to his awesome display of home run power. Aaron Bjornson improved to 13-6 with a complete game five-hitter, walking one and letting them have three runs, just one of which was earned.

With that win, we’re now tied for first in the Perry Division with a 25-15 record, finally getting back in front with Gatchel who have the same record. We’ve now won four straight and have crawled out of third place by going 8-2 in our last ten games following that miserable five-game losing streak in late June.

And guess who’s coming to town next? If you guessed Gatchel, you got it ...

OOC: Alex Centeno's two-run game was the first time in ORBL history that anyone has done that! Pretty impressive. We're going to have to keep an eye on him!

July 6, 1871: Welcome to our first game of the year against our divisional rival, the Gatchel Baseball Club! Just ten miles separate our two towns, so there was no surprise that 1,120 fans came out to nearly pack our small grandstands to capacity! Those fans got to watch a rarity in this league -- a pitcher’s duel, as through the first three innings only two hits were made, both by us, with no score. And despite Gatchel still not having gotten a hit off Glen Cadenhead, they managed to take a lead based off our defensive ineptitude ... they got a runner on first via an E6 error, advanced him to second with another runner getting on base on an E5 error, and then their left fielder Chris Porter hit a sac-fly, scoring an unearned run to go ahead 1-0. They got their first hit moments later, a groundball single that drove in a second run, and then finally we got out of the inning, Gatchel leading us 2-0 off one hit, one walk and FOUR ERRORS. But we didn’t quit -- instead we loaded the bases without an out in the bottom of the sixth ... but Gatchel is insanely good in their infield, and with one out Ryan Carl grounded into a 5-2-3 double play that squelched our rally in its tracks. Cadenhead collapsed in the seventh, giving up four runs and forcing us to go to Eric Behmer with two outs and a man on third. We got out of the inning but trailed 6-0, and the game seemed over as fans stood stunned for the seventh inning stretch.

We showed signs of life in the bottom of the inning as Musselman walked on two outs, stealing second and third, and then Ismael Chinea hit a towering homer out of right to wake the fans up, getting us on the board down 6-2! Steve Hopkins reached first on an E3 error, and Centeno batted him to third with a double, Danny Graham reaching first on an E4 error to drive in a third run! A passed ball scored a fourth, advancing Graham to second, and we went into the eighth inning trailing 6-4 with the game tantalizingly in our reach. They got a run back in the top of the inning, and we went into the bottom of the ninth still trailing by three runs, and yet we felt fresh while their exhausted starter Jay Even looked ready for the hook ... he walked Chinea, Hopkins and Centeno, and then Danny Graham reached first on an E3 error, pulling us within two! They managed to get two outs at home plate to keep us on edge, but clearly they had no faith in their bullen ... as Even stayed out and promptly walked Chesnut, cutting their lead to one! With McDaniel warmed in the pen, we brought out Chris Johnson to pinch hit, and with the count 1-1 he threw a wild pitch to tie the score at 7-7! Johnson popped out to Even to end the inning, and this one was headed for the 10th!

This is everything a rivalry game should be. We brought out Joe McDonald, our bullpen “closer” in the top of the inning, but unfortunately our disappointing infield defense didn’t hold ... after getting two quick outs, a single an error and a walk loaded the bags and their catcher Eli Perez scored off a wild pitch to take the lead 8-7. We had our leadoff hitter Musselman up to hit first in the bottom of the inning, however, so we had hopes of a rally ... he grounded out to short, but Chinea reached on a single, and Hopkins adanced the runner to third off a single into deep right. Alex Centeno then hit one up the gap to drive in the tying run, putting Hopkins in scoring position! But two outs stranded him there and we were forced to keep playing. Gatchel again took the lead in the top of the 11th thanks to an E2 error as their first baseman Devin Vollmer scored from second, and we came up to hit in the bottom of the inning trailing this time by two. On two outs, Musselman reached first off an infield hit, driving Ryan Carl over to third, and incredibly we still had a chance ... but alas, it was not to be. Ismael Chinea grounded out to first and we lost this one 10-8 after 11 brutal innings. McDonald took the loss, falling to 2-3 with an 0.90 ERA after four hits a walk and three runs (one earned) in his two innings, but we outhit them 13-11 ... it was our TEN ERRORS that killed us, frustrating Cadenhead (6.2 IP, five hits, one walk, two strikeouts, six UNEARNED runs) and Eric Behmer (2.1 IP, two hits, one walk, one strikeout and another UNEARNED run) to no end. Hopkins and Chesnut combined for seven of those errors, and Chinea led the way on offense with three hits, two runs, a walk and two RBIs.

July 7, 1871: After a game like yesterday’s, it’s no surprise that Gatchel faced a letdown game this time. They scored first, a run in the top of the first inning, but we scored three in the first, four in the third and two in the fourth to completely gutpunch them. They went down quietly 10-2, and we again tied them on the top of the standings. Our two games on their field in September will help determine a potentially critical tiebreaker between us in what could be a brutal race to the finish for a chance at the playoffs. This time we outhit them 16-7 and only committed three errors, and Hopkins was on fire with four hits and a pair of runs. Centeno has also been red hot, hitting three times with two runs and two RBIs as the first baseman is now hitting .331 with 10 doubles, a triple, two homers and 22 RBIs. Aaron Bjornson improved to 14-6, allowing just seven hits and two earned runs with a strikeout, giving him a 2.35 ERA through 181 innings over 21 starts. He’s currently in fourth place on the league leaderboard, just two off the pace of Tyrone Capers, the 31-year-old ace for the Ferdinand Baseball Club who is currently 16-4 with a 2.52 ERA and 28 strikeouts through 185.2 innings.

July 8, 1871: No rest for the weary, for even after that killer series against Gatchel, we now head on the road to Rockport over in the Spencer Division to play their 25-17 club, and they’re only a game behind us in the league / wildcard standings. They got out to a quick two run lead in the bottom of the first, but we got on the board in the top of the second with a solo homer from Centeno, his third of the year, and his red-hot bat has given this lineup some spark as the summer heats up! We tied the score in the top of the third with a single by Chris Johnston, talking the lead moments later when Danny Graham hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Steve Hopkins. An error led to another run and we went into the bottom of the inning confidently ahead 4-2. Rockport got a run back in the fourth but in the top of the fifth Ismael Chinea hit a two-run homer out of center, his second of the year, extending our lead to three! They got a run back in the bottom of the seventh, and with two outs and men on second and third we went to McDonald out of the bullpen ... and he got us out of the inning with only one of those runners scoring, keeping our 6-5 lead safe for the time being. Unfortunately a two-run bottom of the eighth got Rockport their lead back, and with two outs and men on first and second we pinch-hit for McDonald -- Musselman came off the bench on his day off with the world on his shoulders, Bjornson warming in the bullpen. He hit one to the shortstop, and it should have been game over, but he fumbled the ball trying to make the tag at second, and just like that we had the bases loaded! Too bad David Chestnut hit it right to the second baseman, who didn’t bother fumbling anything ... he just made the tag out himself and the game ended for us as a 7-6 loss. McDonald blew his second save attempt and took the loss, falling to 2-4 with a 0.79 ERA, and we lost despite outhitting them 12-11 ... again it was our defense, with eight errors dooming us (though they left the door cracked and we still could have won). Chinea and Centeno led the way with two hits (and a homer) each, combining for four runs and three RBIs.

July 9, 1871: This game had a ton of flash early and then a ton of defense late ... we had a 4-1 lead midway through the fourth and then gave them three runs in the bottom of the inning, taking that 4-4 tie all the way into extra innings. We left the bases loaded in the top of the 10th, no score, and in the top of the 11th we didn’t get anybody on base. But Bjornson was unfazed and just kept pitching fire. In the top of the 12th Centeno led off with a double, Johnston singled him into scoring position, and an error by their shorstop let us load the bases again on one out ... but again we couldn’t score anyone.

Both starters continued to duel, and any suggestion of going to the bullpen was scoffed at ... by the 14th inning people in the crowd were referring to these two pitchers like a title bout in boxing: Bjornson vs. Simpson! In the bottom of the 14th, Bjornson made a brilliant throw to second to catch their baserunner trying to steal, getting the third out that kept this one going into nearly the four hour mark! We loaded the bases with one out in the top of the 15th, and AGAIN we left them all stranded, but they got runners on second and third in the bottom of the inning and Bjornson stranded THEM ... somebody was gonna have to give, and it was their starter, who caved as they brought out a fresh arm for the top of the 16th. Bubba Masiello pinch hit and replace Alegre at catcher, pushing Graham to second with a one-out single ... and we brought out Alex Fernandez, our backup left fielder, to pinch hit for Bjornson with McDonald warmed in the pen, two outs, two on. But their center fielder made a diving catch and this game simply would ... not ... end. So Joe McDonald came out to pitch in the bottom of the 16th, game still tied at four each like it had been since inning number four. He got two outs, but they won the game because of a series of fielding lapses. An E5 error, followed by a successful sac-bunt where McDonald inexplicably tried to make a put-out at third, and then their 36-year-old first baseman Luke Moore hit a walk-off single to win it 5-4.

In SIXTEEN innings.

Aaron Bjornson has nothing to feel bad about ... he pitched 15 innings and threw 176 pitches, allowing just 12 hits, three walks and four runs (two earned) with one strikeout as his ERA improved to 2.26 through 195 innings. He was battling Rockport’s ace, Rich Simpson, another young phenom who pitched 15 innings and threw a staggering 228 pitches, allowing 12 hits, three walks and four runs (two earned) with two strikeouts. Both teams put up 14 hits each, and we actually had the cleaner defensive game with eight errors to their nine. In the end this is a game where somebody had to win, and it just wasn’t us. Musselman led the team with three hits and two runs, while Centeno added two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

July 10, 1871: We’re back at home to face Tennyson (19-25), and we took the lead in the bottom of the second with a single by Alex Fernandez. We picked up thre more in the third and two in the fourth to hold a commanding 6-0 lead. That was more than enough to stop them in their tracks -- we’d go on to win 8-0, outhitting them 12-6 and only committing two errors. Glen Cadenhead improved to 11-7 with the shutout win, only allowing seven baserunners all game. Randy Musselman was a beast all day, leading with three hits, three steals and two runs. It was the second time this season he’s stolen three bases, and he now has 38 stolen bases in 42 attempts! He currently leads the league, with Joe Kontor of Fort Branch his only real competitor (Kontor has stolen 31 bases in 34 tries).

July 11, 1871: We took the lead in game two against Tenyson in the bottom of the second when Bubba Masiello laid down a successful squeeze bunt, scoring the run and reaching first safely! We had no idea at the time that this was going to turn into a hell of a pitchers’ duel, but we went into the stretch still leading 1-0 with both pitchers holding two-hitters! In the bottom of the eighth we got an insurance run when Chris Johnston hit into a fielder’s choice and drove home our second run of the game, Bjornson ending the game on a 6-4-3 double play as we completed the 2-0 shutout win! He only allowed three hits all game -- no walks, no runs, so strikeouts -- and now he holds a 15-6 record and 2.16 ERA as we outhit Tennyson 5-3. Graham led the way with a run and a steal, getting on base thanks to an error, one of just TWO in the game (both of them were by Tennyson!) while Musselman also had a hit and a run though they didn’t give him much room for baserunning heroics.

July 13, 1871: We’re 46 games into the season and hold a 28-18 record, one game back of first in the division and a game up in the wildcard chase. Today we hit the road to Dubois County to play the Huntingburg Baseball Club (22-24), Trailing 3-1 early, we tied the game up in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI single for Steve Hopkins and an RBI double for Alex Centeno! In the top of the seventh we took the lead off a two-run single by Ryan Carl, and we added on in the eighth when Musselman got a base hit and then stole a pair, scoring off a single by Hopkins. Cadenhead got into trouble in the bottom of the eighth, letting them get a run back off an E4 error, and with one out and runners on first and second we went to the pen for McDonald. He got two groundouts in a row to keep the lead at two runs heading into the ninth, and he held his ground in the bottom of that inning to complete the 6-4 win. Cadenhead got the win, improving to 12-7 with a 2.19 ERA, thanks to five hits, two walks, four runs (three earned) and three strikeouts, while McDonald saved his third game and brought his ERA down to 0.66 through 13.2 innings over nine appearances. We outhit Huntingburg 14-5, led by Musselman who had three hits, three steals and two runs scored.

July 14, 1871: Down 2-1 in the top of the sixth, with two outs, Musselman again pulled off some leggy moves on the basepaths ... he got on base with a walk, stole second AND third, and then came home on a wild pitch to tie the score! He walked again in the top of the eighth, and again managed to steal his way to third, but a groundout kept him from scoring ... that gave him a league-record four steals in the game, and it wasn’t even over! This one went into extra innings, something Aaron Bjornson is getting very used to ... and they walked it off with a flyball double in the bottom of the 10th to beat us 3-2. Bjornson fell to 15-7 with a 2.15 ERA, lasting 9.1 innings with eight hits, three runs (two earned) and a strikeout, and they outhit us 8-4 ... Musselman stole four bases but only scored one run, bringing his total to 45 stolen bases on the year. Centeno hit twice for a run as well.

jksander · 06-13-2025, 02:49 AM

July 15, 1871: We’ve decided to make a roster move, sending 19-year-old David Chesnut to the reserve roster so we can call up 28-year-old Jimmy Hall to play second base ... he’s a solid infielder who has shown promise at both 2B, 3B and shortstop, all three of which we plan to try him at as a utility backup player. Today we’re facing Grandview (26-22) here in Tell City, another team just a couple games behind us in the wildcard chase. We took the lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Ryan Carl, but Cadenhead gave up four runs in the top of the third to put Grandview solidly in the lead. They led 5-1 when we came up to hit in the bottom of the fourth, but we got a run back off a single by Danny Graham coupled with an E8 throwing error, and Musselman batted in another with a two-out single to cut their lead to two! We edged closer with another RBI single by Graham in the top of the fifth, though we left the bases loaded and failed to tie or take the lead, going into the top of the sixth trailing 5-4. We did tie it in the top of the sixth, after Musselman walked, stole second and third, and came home off a groundball single by Chinea ... a passed ball advanced him to second, and though Centeno hit into a 3-6-1 double play, Chinea still advanced to third with two outs, scoring moments later off ANOTHER passed ball to give us a 6-5 lead! Musselman hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the seventh to add on, scoring himself off a sac-fly by Chinea, which sent us into the eighth with a more comfortable three-run advantage. We held on from there to win without much additional fuss, beating Grandview 8-5! Cadenhead improved to 13-7 with a 2.27 ERA, allowing eight hits and four walks with five runs (four earned) and a pair of strikeouts, while we outhit them 12-8. Musselman led the way with two hits, a walk, two steals, two runs and two RBIs, a dominant performance as he came through in the clutch to help us get the win.

July 16, 1871: Bubba Masiello got us the lead in the bottom of the second in game two with an RBI triple, driving in two quick runs in a blink! That brought up the newcomer Jimmy Hall for his first big league at-bat, as he’s playing second base for us today ... he popped out to short, but we’re definitely glad to have him with the team, I expect big things. Aaron Bjornson reached first on an E6 error, scoring Masiello, and we went into the third inning leading by a solid 3-0 margin. We added on in the bottom of the fifth when Musselman scored from third off a single by Steve Hopkins, and just moments later our next hitter, Alex Centeno, hit a two-run homer out of center, his fifth dinger of the season! Hall picked up his first hit in the bottom of the seventh, and an E9 error scored Masiello while Hall was able to take second in the melee, RBI in hand. With two outs and Musselman at the plate, a wild pitch allowed him to advance to third, and Musselman singled him home to make it an 8-0 lead! That was more than enough to subdue them, and we’d go on to win in blowout form, 9-0. Bjornson was on fire, pitching a complete game two-hit shutout, no walks or strikeouts, improving his record to 16-7 with a 2.06 ERA. We had 12 hits ourselves, led by Masiello with two hits, three runs and two RBIs, while Musselman had two hits, a steal, a run and an RBI. More important in my mind is that we played a completely clean defensive game, with no errors, while the Grandview Baseball Club committed six.

July 17, 1871: Knob Hill (28-22) is hosting us now for a pair, and while we currently are in a tie for first in our division at 31-19, they’re now just two games outside the wildcard, so I expected them to be a stiff challenge going in. But we’ve been red hot lately on offense -- Centeno now leads the league in homers, two ahead of his nearest competitor, and Musselman is hitting .338 (5th) with 48 steals (1st) and 3.8 WAR (1st), so we’ve built up a lot of confidence in our ability to duke it out for wins. Knob Hill took the lead in the bottom of the third with an RBi single by their first baseman Chris French. We loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fourth, and twice should have had runs off sac-flies, but their left fielder has an arm like a cannon and both times he whipped the ball home and held the runners. Carl then grounded into a fielder’s choice with the out at third and we wasted all three runners. They added a run in the bottom of the inning, but Musselman finally got us on the board with an RBI single in the top of the seventh to cut their lead to one. He stole second and third but was unable to score, sending us into the stretch trailing 2-1. We tied it up in the top of the eighth on two outs when Tony Alegre reached first on an E5 error, scoring Steve Hopkins. But we were unable to buy any insurance in the ninth, and Knob Hill walked it off with a line drive double in the bottom of the inning to beat us 3-2. Cadenhead gave us 8.2 innings with 12 hits, a walk, a strikeout and three earned runs, and Knob Hill outhit us 12-8 ... but Randy Musselman singlehandedly kept us in the game with solid hitting and determined baserunning. He finished with three hits and an RBI, but never scored despite an ORBL record SIX STEALS ... we stranded him on third THREE TIMES as those three chances were all on two outs.

July 18, 1871: We took the lead in game two with a run off a passed ball in the top of the third, but they hit us for three runs in the bottom of the sixth as this duel intensified. Musselman scored a run off a groundout in the bottom of the eighth to get us back within a run, but they got it back in the bottom of the inning putting all the pressure on us in the top of the ninth. With one out Johnston got a hit into right for a single, and we brought out Hall to pinch-hit for Alegre, getting a solid double into right, giving us two in scoring position. Johnston scored off a wild pitch, but a strikeout and a pop-fly to right ended our game as another one run loss, this time 4-3. Those two losses to Knob Hill could hurt us if we don’t reciprocate with a pair of wins on our field in a couple months -- we’ll host them the first two days of October. Bjornson gave them eight hits, but struck out one with no walks and only allowed one earned run out of four. But they outhit us again 8-6, Alegre leading the way for us with two hits and nothing else.

July 19, 1871: We need some momentum in the right direction, and our next opponent here at home, the Highland Baseball Club (13- 39). We’re only a few weeks away from the season’s midpoint, with this team and eight more to face before we start going through the league a second time for the back half, which will start on August 8th with a rematch against Holland. Musselman scored first tonight in the bottom of the first inning off a passed ball, giving us an early 1-0 lead. He scored again in the top of the third, this time off an RBI double by Hopkins. Highland got on the board in the top of the fourth with an RBI single, but Ryan Carl got the run back when he scored in the bottom of the inning off a sac-fly by Alegre. In the bottom of the fifth, Musselman again managed to manufacture a run, hitting a line drive single, stealing a pair of bases and, thanks to an E5 error, scoring our fourth run to give us a three-run advantage. That time, however, he sparked a rally that led to three additional runs, and we went into the sixth with a solid 7-1 lead on a Highland team that looked like they’d cracked. Turned out they had juice left in them ... an RBI single and a sac-fly got htem back within four, and in the top of the seventh they knocked in two more with an RBI double by their second baseman Ed Tate. We stranded a pair of our own runners on second and third in the bottom of the inning, unable to add on runs, and we brought out Eric Behmer to pitch in the eighth with a 7-5 lead to protect. In the bottom of the eighth, Musselman got on base with a single, reached second on an E6 error, stole third and then came in to score an insurance run thanks to an E2 error! That extended our lead back to three, and Musselman scored moments later when Centeno hit an RBI single. We went into the top of the ninth leading by four, and Behmer shut them down nicely in the end as we won 9-5. Cadenhead got the win, improving to 14-8 with seven innings and eight hits, one walk and five runs (three earned), with Behmer pulling off two solid innings with two hits, nothing else. That earned him his first save, and improved his ERA to 6.43 through 14 innings over five appearances as our long reliever. We outhit them 12-10 and only committed three errors to their eight, which played a big part in our being able to hold them off. Once again our leader was Randy “Prunes” Musselman (no idea whether it’s the prunes in his name that help!) ... the 28-year-old phenom got three hits in four tries and added another five steals to his resume, giving him 61 steals in 65 attempts! Pitchers know he’s gonna go for it, and most times he’s gonna get it whether they like it or not. And even on the rare chances where they try to pick him off, he’s just as likely to get the base anyway when their first basemen drop the ball.

July 20, 1871: We took the lead quickly in the bottom of the first with a Musselman run scored off a wild pitch. That was just the start, and we held a 3-0 lead before they came up to hit again in the top of the second. They got a run each in the second and third to get back into the game, but Tony Alegre got our lead back up to two runs when he hit an RBI flyball double in the bottom of the third. They tied it up in the top of the fifth with a two-run homer by Chris Godley, their left fielder, his first hit of the year to leave the field. We loaded the bases on two outs in the bottom of the sixth but were unable to get a run across, sending us into the seventh still knotted up 4-4. In the top of the eighth they got a leadoff triple from their third baseman Chris Godley, and he was batted home shortly thereafter via an E4 error after a weak grounder by catcher Aaron Munson, and they added a run in the top of the ninth. With two outs, Danny Graham reached first on an E6 error, scoring Chinea, but our final batter of the night struck out swinging and it was all over as a 6-5 loss. Not our best offensive effort. Bjornson took the loss, with a complete-game seven hitter, walking two with three strikeouts and four earned runs out of six. We outhit them 10-7, led by Steve Hopkins who had three hits, a run and an RBI, while Musselman added two hits, two steals and a run scored.

July 21, 1871: Evansville (30-24) came to Tell City to face our 32-22 club, getting on the board quickly with a wild pitch and an E7 error that led to a run by infielder Mark Gilbert. But we tied it up just as fast after Musselman got on base via an error of their own, stealing a pair and then coming in to score off a sac-fly by Chinea! We got the lead in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Ryan Carl that scored Chris Johnston thanks to an E8 eror, but a double followed by an RBI single for them in the top of the fourth tied it up again. Centeno thought he had an inside the park homer, but settled for a triple in the bottom of the fifth ... moments later he came in to get the run anyway thanks to a wild pitch, and an RBI double by Graham pushed in two more to give us a three-run lead! Jimmy Hall batted in another with a single, taking second as the run scored, and we went into the top of the sixth leading big, 6-2. We added on two more in the eighth, and they went down quietly in the final frame as we whipped them 8-2. Cadenhead improved to 15-8 with a 2.30 ERA, allowing eight hits, two runs (one earned) and striking out one. We outhit them 13-8, led by Masiello with two hits, a run and two RBIs, while Musselman added two hits, three steals and two runs.

July 22, 1871: In game two against the Evansville Baseball Club we took the lead in the bottom of the first off a two-out RBI single by Johnston, but our opponents got runs in the second and fourth to flip the script. We tied it again in the bottom of the fifth with a wild pitch that scored Bjornson from third, and with the bases loaded we brought out Randy Musselman to pinch-hit for Tony Alegre ... he’ll replace Masielo in center, as “Bubba” takes over at catcher after the inning. Musselman hit a slow-roller down the left field line, driving in a pair for the lead thanks to his double, and we went into the top of the sixth leading 4-2. We added on a run in the eighth, and we shut them down from there to win 5-2. Aaron Bjornson pitched a complete game six-hitter, with a walk, two unearned runs and a strikeout as he improved to 17-9 with a 2.03 ERA. We outhit them 8-6, led by Musselman who, after pinch-hitting in the fifth, finished with a hit and two RBIs ... no steals though tonight.

July 23, 1871: Next up on our plate is a trip to Lincoln City in the Spencer Division. They’re 27-29 and sitting in fifth place in their division, but they’re just six games out of the wildcard and they play in a tough division so they know they need every win they can get. They’re gonna be hungry. Hungry or not, however, once they got their three runs in the bottom of the first, we unleashed and took full control. We led 10-3 heading into the stretch and were able to completely demoralize them with an 11-3 win. Cadenhead had nine hits, a walk and three earned runs in the win, improving to 16-8 with a 2.32 ERA, and we outhit them 13-9. Musselman had the day off, so we got our hits from Centeno, who led with three hits a run and an RBI, while Alex Fernandez added two hits, a run and three RBIs.

July 24, 1871: We were not looking sharp today, fighting from behind 3-2 heading into the top of the eighth. But that’s when all hell broke loose -- we batted around and picked up seven runs, scoring off a flurry of RBI singles, errors, passed balls, and all manner of other acts of God. That completely crushed them and there wasn’t a peep from their offense the rest of the game as we blew them away 9-3. Bjornson gave them eight hits and three runs (one earned) as he picked up his 18th win, getting his ERA to 1.99 through 257.1 innings.

July 26, 1871: The Darmstadt Baseball Club, named after the German city known as the “City of Science,” came to Tell City for a pair, and they currently sit eight games under .500 and well out of the wildcard considerations. We’re coming off a rest day and are on a four-game winning streak, so our confidence is high. They scored first but Musselman tied it in the bottom of the first off a passed ball. We scored four runs in the hird to break it open, and this one quickly became a rout. We went on to blow them away 10-1, in a dominating performance where we outhit them 12-3. Cadenhead had a complete game three-hitter, with two strikeouts and an earned run as he improved to 17-8 with a 2.28 ERA. Musselman had a hit, a walk, two steals, three runs and an RBI, and he now has 70 steals through his first 55 games in this league. But it was Centeno who led the way with two hits, two runs and five RBIs, including his sixth homer of the year that came in the third inning.

July 27, 1871: We took a 2-0 lead afer one inning and added on a run in the bottom of the fifth and sixth to take a 4-0 lead heading into the top of the seventh. But Darmstadt came roaring back, scoring four runs on Bjornson to tie things up as we went into the stretch knotted 4-4. Musselman took us on his shoulders again, getting a base hit and a pair of steals as he took third base, coming in to score off a double by Chinea to put us up a run in the bottom of the inning. That wound up being all we needed as we were able to hold on to the one one lead and escape with a 5-4 victory! Bjornson is now 19-9 with a 1.93 ERA, getting through tonight’s jam with nine hits and four unearned runs. We outhit them 11-9, led by Musselman who had three hits, six steals and three runs, tying his single-game steals record yet again. This man is a maniac! But Chinea helped, getting three hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs hitting behind him, helping to sustain rallies as we held them off

July 28, 1871: With this six-game winning streak we’ve now surpassed the 35-24 Gatchel Baseball Club and have a 2.5 game lead on them in the Perry Division ... our best lead of the year! With ten games left before the season’s midpoint we’ve won 38 games and have looked great doing it. But we have to keep fighting if we don’t want to slip back into the crowd of teams fighting over the two wildcard spots. Today we’ll face Chandler’s Baseball Club, at 31-28, and every road game has been tough this year. But this one seemed to pick up right where we left off ... a three-run lead in the top of the third became a blowout after back to back two-run innings in the fifth and sixth, and we led by six heading into the bottom of the ninth. Chandler put up some fight in the final frame, loading the bases on one out, and a run walked in before their center fielder batted in another with a single to cut our lead to four. We got the second out off a fielder’s choice at home, and another came with the out at second to get us out of a real jam, beating them 7-3. Cadenhead improved to 18-8 with a 2.30 ERA but allowed 11 hits and four walks, all of his runs being earned. Luckily we outhit them 11-9, led by Musselman who hit four times with a run and three batted in, and he didn’t steal once, though he tried -- and was caught stealing for just the fifth time in 81 tries, breaking a streak of 40 successful steals in a row.

July 29, 1871: Chandler was completely outmatched by us as we led 6-0 after just an inning and a half. They got a run back in the bottom of the third, but we got the next six, as we completely reamed them 12-1 as the streak just keeps going! Bjornson only allowed five hits and an unearned run as he improved to 20-9, his ERA now sitting at 1.86 through 275.1 innings and 31 starts. We outhit them 15-5, led by Musselman with three hits, three runs, a steal and two RBIs.

July 30, 1871: Cannelton is the last of the teams in our division we hadn’t yet played, and they made the three mile trip up the river to play us (they’re the closest opponent to us, aside from Troy which is just a five mile trip) today with their 26-36 record. That’s dead last in the division by a long shot, but they gave us a good game, fighting to keep it close the entire way. We led 3-0 after a two-run fourth, but they got a run in during the top of the sixth, they just weren’t able to close the gap any further. We didn’t put up any insurance runs, but we held tough to win 3-1, each team hitting six times. Cadenhead allowed just six hits and an unearned run with a strikeout, getting his 19th win, while Centeno led with two hits, a run and an RBI. Musselman was held hitless and didn’t get on base either, so he was completely held out of this one, something I’ll give Cannelton a ton of credit for ... it’s hard to keep that man from speeding along the basepaths.

July 31, 1871: Cannelton picked up a run each in the first, third and fifth to take a solid lead on us, but we got a pair back in the bottom of the sixth thanks to an Ismael Chinea two-run homer, his third of the year. Down a run with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Alegre picked up a double, and thanks to an E8 throwing error off a single by Carl, Alegre slid in safely to tie the score ... though to be honest, he deserved to be out -- he had no business risking the run from third. Good win for him though! With two outs, Carl stole third and moments later Bjornson bunted, and I thought for sure we were headed for extras, but he beat out the hit, laid it down PERFECTLY. With runners on the corners, Musselman hit one brilliantly down the right field side and just like that we walked it off ... THE STREAK LIVES ... as we won 4-3. Bjornson only allowed six hits with three earned runs, striking out one as he improved to 21-9. We outhit them 13-6, with Carl leading the way with three hits a run and an RBI. Musselman’s late-game heroics won the game, and he finished with two hits, a run and an RBI without even once considering a steal.

August 1, 1871: It’s hard to believe there are three teams left we haven’t played! Today we traveled to play the 30-34 Patoka Baseball Club with our ten-game winning streak on the line. We were tied after two, 1-1, but broke the game open with a three-run fourth, holding the line the rest of the way as we stumped them 4-1. Cadenhead got his 20th win, allowing only four hits and the run with two strikeouts, and we outhit them in the duel 6-4. They kept Musselman off the bases, but Centeno had a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI, and Carl hit with a run and an RBI as well.

August 2, 1871: We traded leads early on in this one, but had a 4-1 lead going in the middle of the fifth, when Patoka suddenly showed signs of life, scoring off back to back RBI singles to pull within a run as we came up to hit in the top of the sixth. We held our 4-3 lead into the stretch, but struggled to find any insurance runs. In the bottom of the ninth they tied the score off a sac-fly, and this one went into extra innings tied 4-4. We took the lead in the top of the 10th off a two-run homer by Centeno, who now has eight four-baggers on the season, and we brought out Joe McDonald to pitch in the bottom of the inning, only to hand them a triple and a single to cut our lead back to one. Two quick outs sent their baserunner to third, but we were able to strand him there with a groundout, winning this one 6-5 as our winning ways continue. But that one came harder than most ... Bjornson improved to 22-9 with a 1.93 ERA, allowing eight hits and four runs (three earned) with a strikeout, while McDonald got his third save and kept his ERA as a respectable 1.23 through 14.2 innings. Each team had 10 hits, ours led by Musselman with two hits, a stolen base and a run scored.

August 3, 1871: Our next opponent here on our field in Tell City is the Oakland City Baseball Club, and they’ve been a tough competitor for everyone this year with their 42-24 record that leads the Gibson Division by four games. They’re coming off a loss to Jasper, while we’ve won an even dozen in a row, and this one had the looks of a playoff preview before it started. We struggled early, getting caught stealing twice in the first inning after they got out to a 2-0 top-of-the-first lead. They built a 5-0 lead in the third, but we clawed it slowly back, tying the score at 6-6 with a run off a passed ball in the bottom of the sixth. They retook the lead in the top of the seventh by a run, but we loaded the bases on two outs in the bottom of the inning and Ryan Carl hit a bouncing ball into center, driving in two runs with a single to put us back on top 8-7 heading into the eighth. Eric Behmer took over in the top of the eighth, and he held them off the rest of the way as we won 8-7. Cadenhead improved to 21-8 with 11 hits and five unearned runs in his seven innings, while Behmer saved his second game and got his ERA down to 5.62. They outhit us 12-10, but Ryan Carl was a catalyst to get us back in the game, hitting twice with a run and three RBIs as we completed the comeback and won our 13th in a row.

August 4, 1871: The first inning of this one was a firefight, with us taking a 3-2 lead heading into the second. From there, however, much like yesterday Oakland City completely lost their will to fight. We dominated the remainder, building an insurmountable lead as we won 8-3. Bjornson had a complete game five-hit game, all three of his runs unearned, and we outhit them 14-5. Ismael Chinea led the way with three hits, a walk, a steal, two runs and two RBIs, while Randy Musselman added three hits, two runs and an RBI.

August 5, 1871: After making quick work of Oakland City, we hit the road to play Ferdinand (41-27), the current leader of the Dubois Division by one game over Holland. They’re the last team we’re facing for the first time before the season’s midpoint, and we’ve built an impressive five-game lead over Troy in the Perry Division as we sit at 46-22, two dozen games over the .500 mark. We scored three in the top of the first but gave up five immediately in the bottom of the inning, setting the tone. We put up two in the third to tie it up, but they answered with a pair in the bottom of the fifth to go up 7-5. They extended the lead to four runs heading into the top of the ninth, and this time we had no rally in us. Ferdinand held tough and were able to shut us down 9-5, snapping our win streak at 14 games. Cadenhead allowed 10 hits, walked two and gave up nine runs, three earned, in his eight innings with two strikeouts, falling to 21-9. We outhit them 13-10 and Ryan Carl put up four hits with two RBIs, but we weren’t able to match them on clutch hits.

August 6, 1871: Today is our 70th game out of a 140-game season, and so far we’ve played incredibly well. Today our focus was on splitting the series with Ferdinand, and early on it looked like yesterday’s game ... they scored two in the bottom of the second, we answered with three, and then they built a 5-3 lead, only to let us climb slowly back in. In the top of the eighth we took the lead 6-5 as Alegre scored off an error, and Alegre drove in an insurance run in the ninth with a single, aided by an E7 error, that let Centeno cross home plate safely. Bjornson held his own in the bottom of the ninth and we got out of there with a 7-5 win, giving us a 47-23 record midway through the first-ever ORBL season. Bjornson is now 24-9 with a 1.91 ERA through 35 starts, with 311.1 innings pitched -- tonight he allowed 10 hits with five runs (three earned), while Ferdinand outhit us 10-8. Steve Hopkins led the way with three hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs, while Centeno added two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

Heading into the back half of the season, we still lead in power rankings, but the St. Meinrad Baseball Club is closing the gap quickly. Their 48-22 record is the best in baseball, and their number two starter Corey Thompson, even at age 43, is one of the best pitchers in baseball with a 26-7 record and 1.77 ERA through 299.1 innings. Randy Musselman right now is in MVP comptetition, hitting .357/.388/.441 with 11 doubles and seven triples, to go with his 79 steals and a 6.3 WAR. Centeno and Chinea, with eight and three homers each, lead the league in power-hitting, and though none of our pitchers are standing out in most categories, it’s worth noting that Bjornson has the fourth best WHIP in baseball, at 0.95 through his 311.1 innings pitched.

jksander · 06-13-2025, 05:53 PM

August 8, 1871: We’re back to the top of the schedule, but playing on alternate sites from the first go-round. That means we’re hosting Holland (41-29) after splitting our first meeting back at the season’s start. They took the lead in the top of the third off a single coupled with an E9 throwing error, and they added on a pair in the top of the fourth to dig us a three-run hole. Randy Musselman reached on an E6 error in the bottom of the fifth to finally get us on the board, but we stranded him on second, stifling our comeback attempt. Centeno hit a leadoff triple in the bottom of the sixth, and we stranded HIM there too, in a really disappointing inning. But we tied it up in the bottom of the eighth off a two-run homer by Centeno, putting him a single away from hitting for the cycle! The game stayed knotted at 3-3 into extra innings, and in the top of the 13th Holland finally broke through, scoring off a wild pitch to take a one-run lead. Centeno tied it up in the bottom of the inning with his second homer of the game, but we weren’t able to seal the win with a final run. Cadenhead got us through the 14th unblemished, and we went to Joe McDonald when the game went into its 15th inning ... and then finally, in the bottom of the inning, we walked it off with an RBI single by Tony Alegre, Danny Graham crossing home to get us the win. McDonald got the win, improving to 3-5 with a 1.15 ERA, but it was Cadenhead who put up 14 heroic innings with 11 hits, a walk, a strikeout and just four runs (three earned). We outhit them 12-11, in no small part thanks to Centeno, who had four hits -- a double, a triple and two homers -- and a walk, scoring twice and batting in three. His walk came in the 14th inning when they intentionally walked him rather than risk a walk-off single that would have given him a cycle.

August 9, 1871: After yesterday’s crazy affair, today was something of a letdown, as Holland didn’t match our energy ... I’m fine with it, as we built a 3-0 lead in the first half and then were able to cruise to victory. A three-run inning in the bottom of the seventh simply sealed the deal, as we won easily 6-0. Bjornson is now 25-9 with a 1.85 ERA, and he only allowed three hits all day, walking two. We had ten hits ourselves, led by Musselman who had three hits and two runs while stealing a pair, bringing his total on the year to 81.

August 10, 1871: We’re on the road to play Celestine (28-44) next, and we swept them in our two home games earlier in the season. We took the lead 1-0 in the top of the fourth, but Celestine fought back hard in the sixth, tying it with a line drive single by their left fielder Jamie Jaco. With two outs they took the lead with a single that drove home two runs, and just like that this one was a serious ballgame. Centeno reached on an error, stole third and scored off an RBI single by Graham in the top of the eighth to get us back in the chase, and we tied it up moments later when Ryan Carl hit a single into center ... Graham tried for third, and thanks to an E8 error, he wound up scoring all the way from first off that hit! But Cadenhead gave them two more runs in the bottom of the inning, so we had our work cut out for us in the top of the ninth. Steve Hopkins pinch-hit for Cadenhead, singling into center, and though Musselman hit into a fielder’s choice, he then stole second and third to get into scoring position ... but it was too little, too late. He stayed there at third and we lost this one in a 5-3 heartbreaker. The loss was Cadenhead’s 10th, allowing eight hits and five runs, two earned as we matched them with eight hits ourselves. Centeno led the way with two hits and a run, while Musselman had a hit and two steals but was unable to get on the board.

August 11, 1871: This game was tight early, as we traded runs in the third, fourth and fifth, clinging to a 2-1 lead heading into the top of the sixth. But that’s when we took control for good -- an RBI single by Bjornson and a sac-fly by Ismael Chinea extended our lead, and we added insurance runs in the eighth and ninth to seal a dominating 6-1 win. Bjornson pitched a five-hit game, striking out two and allowing just the one earned run as he continues to impress on the mound. We outhit them 10-5 behind two hits, a run and three RBIs from Chinea and two hits, two runs and two stolen bases via Musselman. He’s literally “running away” with the stolen bases race this season, leading his nearest compatriot by 31 steals. He’s setting the standard, and has made himself a frontrunner in the MVP conversations with a good chunk of the season remaining to be played.

August 12, 1871: Troy’s up next in our season, bringing their 43-31 record onto our field as they and Gatchel both are locked into the wildcard conversations -- only two teams get into the playoffs as wildcards, and both may well come from our division even as we now sit six games up on the rest of our divisional competitors. We swept them on their field in May, so they’re hungry for revenge, and they got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first. But Musselman got a hit, a steal and scored off a single by Centeno in the bottom of the inning, so we weren’t taking them lightly. With the bases loaded a few minutes later, thanks to Graham taking a hit to the shoulder, we had a chance to blow it open but Ryan Carl popped out to second, ending the frame. We got three runs off in the bottom of the third to take a 4-3 lead, however, and we took control from there, shutting them down efficiently as we won 7-3. Cadenhead only gave them six hits and three runs (two earned) with a pair of walks and a strikeout, and we put up 14 hits to keep them cowed. Centeno led the way with three hits, a run and three RBIs, and Musselman had two hits, a run and the one steal he picked up in the first inning.

August 13, 1871: Troy beat us out 2-1 in the first inning, same as yesterday, but we tied it in the bottom of the second and held a 5-2 lead after three. They never got closer, though they at least tried to keep us honest ... we just had too much offensive firepower for them to stop us. We went on to win 6-3, completing the season sweep! Bjornson improved to 27-9 with a 1.78 ERA, allowing eight hits with two strikeouts and three unearned runs. They actually outhit us 8-7, but they also committed nine errors to our four, which killed any comeback chances. Bjornson actually led our offense as well, with two hits and a run, bringing his average up to .226 through his 38th start.

August 14, 1871: We led early 2-0 midway through the second in our first of two games against Santa Claus (36-40) on their field, but we picked up a run at a time in the third, fourth and sixth to take control of this one. They might have stood a chance still, these games can turn on a dime, but we put up five runs in the top of the ninth to completely gut them, winning this one 10-1 as we outslugged them 14-5. Cadenhead got through the game with five hits, a walk, a strikeout and the one (unearned) run, improving his record to 23-10, and Chinea led the offense with four hits and three RBIs!

August 15, 1871: This was a close game for six innings, and we trailed them 1-0 until Chinea hit his 13th homer of the year, a solo shot that tied us up midway through the sixth. But we HAMMERED them in the top of the seventh for nine runs, turning a tight battle into a comical rout in a matter of 13 batters in a single inning, and for the second game in a row we beat them by a 10-1 margin. Bjornson only let them have six hits and the one earned run, and we only outhit them 12-6, though five of those were doubles, triples or homers. Musselman had four hits, two runs and an RBI with two stolen bases early in the game, and Chinea added two hits, two runs and four RBIs batting behind him.

We’re still more than two months out of actually starting the three-round playoffs, but the two frontrunners in the conversation are ourselves at 54-24 (seven games up in the Perry Division) and St. Meinrad at 54-24 (11 games up in the Spencer Division). Every other race in the remaining four divisions are within one to three games of each other, and there are 14 teams within five games of the wildcard ... which means at least having a record above .500 at this point in the season. The league as a whole has been very competitive, with only Newburgh (21-57) and Highland (20-58) having yet to reach 30 wins.

There has been some discussion of travel distances, and at winter meetings this offseason it is expected that we’ll have a vote on whether to split the ORBL into two “leagues” to alleviate such concerns ... it’s been discussed that Perry, Spencer and Dubois could compete in one league while Vanderburgh, Warrick and Gibson compete in another, which would ensure that, outside of the playoffs, nobody would have to travel more than 40 miles between series. But those details will have to be hammered out after we finish the first season.

August 16, 1871: Elberfeld (39-39) is currently locked in a tight race in the Warrick Division, leading Lynnville’s 37-41 Baseball Club by two games in a division where it’s likely win or go home this year. So it came as no surprise that they fought today with tenacious grit, overcoming a two-run deficit when they fought back in the top of the sixth to tie the score 4-4 here on our field. Chinea got on base and stole second in the bottom of the seventh, taking the lead for us off an RBI triple by Steve Hopkins, and a sac-fly by Chris Johnson put us up by a pair. Cadenhead held his ground from there, and we were able to beat them in the end 6-4, though we never felt comfortable down the stretch ... they’d outhit us 12-11 and we’d committed five errors and just got lucky in this one. Cadenhead improved to 24-10 with a 12-hit four run (three earned) game, and Chinea led our hitters with three hits, a run and an RBI, keeping him right at .300 on the season.

August 17, 1871: Elberfeld took control with a three-run first inning and they were dominating us 6-0 midway through the sixth inning. We got on the board in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single by Danny Graham, and a sac-fly by Masiello cut their lead to four. That woke us up, and we loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh on no outs, ready to do some damage! Hopkins reached on an error, driving in our third run, and Centeno did the same moments later to cut their lead to two ... still no outs! Danny Graham hit a sac-fly that drove in our fifth run of the day, and we completed the comeback with a two-run single by Masiello to put us up 7-6! It’s amazing how quickly a game like this can have its momentum completely turn ... by the time they finally got out of the bottom of the seventh we’d scored 10 runs and built a 12-6 advantage over their stunned team. They got a run back in desperation time, but it wasn’t nearly enough as we crushed them 12-7. Bjornson allowed 11 hits and seven runs (three earned) but got the run support he needed to improve to 29-9 with a 1.79 ERA through 40 starts ... he’s now pitched 356.1 innings! We outhit them 14-11, with Bjornson leading again offensively as well with three hits, two runs and an RBI, backing up Masiello who added three hits, a run and three RBIs. It was definitely a good day for the bottom of our lineup!

Bjornson is now tied for first in the ORBL with St. Meinrad’s Corey Thomison with 29 wins apiece, and he’s pitched 35 complete games (3rd), with an 0.93 WHIP (3rd) while holding his opponents to a .215 average (4th).

August 18, 1871: Mechanicsville (44-36) will be our hosts for the next two games, and they gave us a real fight early, our team holding a slim 4-3 lead heading into the top of the seventh. But we were able to get an insurance run when Centeno hit a solo homer in the top of the seventh, and we held our ground from there to win 5-3. Centeno now has 14 dingers this year, and he and Chinea (5 homers) have dominated the league so far with their power (Centeno also leads the league in doubles, with 21!)

August 19, 1871: Mechanicsville led 2-1 in a tight contest as we came up to hit in the top of the eighth, but Centeno got us the lead when he hit a two-run line-drive single to make it a 3-2 Tell City advantage! They loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth and had a real chance to steal this one, but Bjornson didn’t give an inch and we got the final out to win 3-2, keeping our winning streak alive. Bjornson got his 30th win off 99 pitches, allowing eight hits, two walks and two earned runs, striking out a pair as well for good measure. They outhit us 8-7, Ryan Carl leading the way with two hits and a run. Musselman had a hit, stole his 94th base and scored a run as well, and he’s continuing to hit at an exceptional .365 clip, getting on base nearly 40 percent of the time ... hard to slow him down if you can’t keep him off the basepaths!

August 21, 1871: This is the big series -- St. Meinrad (55-27) is coming to town to face our 58-24 squad ... we’ve won nine in a row and are red hot heading into the late summer homestretch, while St. Meinrad has lost five of its last ten games. Tony Alegre was injured in the bottom of the second inning after hitting a double that drove in the go-ahead ... we’re not sure the extent of the injury, but it was bad enough he had to be pulled from the game. That stunted our momentum, and St. Meinrad jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the top of the third, piling on with three more runs in the top of the fourth! Danny Graham got us going in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single that was aided by an E8 error, and we added on with an RBI single by Hopkins and a passed ball that scored him a few minutes later ... but we still went into the sixth trailing by a pair. That’s where it remained, aside from an insurance run St. Meinrad picked up in the seventh, and we lost this one 7-4 ... the injury in the second proving to be the point where they took control. They outhit us 14-6, with Hopkins (a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI) and Johnston (a hit, two walks and a run) leading the way. Cadenhead had a rough night, with the 14 hits leading to seven runs (five earned) as he fell to 25-11.

The injury news on Alegre isn’t great. He strained a quad muscle sliding into second, and therefore will miss at least five to six weeks ... though he should return in time for the playoffs. We’ve added him to our injury list, the first time we’ve had to use it this year. We don’t have a backup catcher on our reserve squad, so we’ve offered a contract to a local 30-year-old, Steve Williamson, who knows the position -- offering him $250 to come in as a last-minute densive backup for the homestretch, and we’re hoping to have him signed in time for our trip to play Francisco in two days. In the meantime we’re calling up 19-year-old second baseman Danny Hall for tomorrow’s game against St. Meinrad.

August 22, 1871: St. Meinrad kept it close the entire game, and though we led 3-1 after two innings, they clawed their way back in with runs in the third and seventh to send us into the stretch knotted 3-3. Chinea got us the lead back in a huge way in the bottom of the inning, hitting a two-run homer (his sixth!) to put us back up 5-3. We led by three heading into the top of the eighth, and we should have had it wrapped up, but in the top of the ninth they loaded the bases and tied it up with a two-out, three-run double by infielder Marshall Robertson. We managed to get into the bottom of the inning without any more runs scoring, and Chinea had his hero moment in the bottom of the inning when he walked it off with ANOTHER two-run homer, giving us the 7-5 win! We outhit them 11-8, and Chinea was the catalyst, hitting three times (twice with homers) with a walk, three runs and four RBIs. Bjornson was lucky this didn’t go to extras, as he wound up with his 31st win, despite eight hits, six runs (four earned) and a walk, a rough ninth inning putting the win in jeopardy.

Steve Williamson hasn’t signed his contract yet, so we’ll head to Francisco (40-44) without a backup catcher. We’ve had good luck all season, we’ll just have to bet on our rostered players being able to withstand the pressure.

August 23, 1871: This one was all Fransisco early, as they took a 3-1 lead in the second and added a run in the fifth. We came up to hit trailing by two in the top of the ninth, having gotten a run back in the sixth, and a pair of errors allowed us to claw our way into a tie mid-inning, putting the pressure on Francisco to avoid extras. We gave them nothing to hit, pitching our way into extending this game, and in the top of the 10th with two outs Bubba Masiello hit an RBI single that drove in two runs for the lead! Cadenhead held his own in the bottom of the frame and we got out of there with a 6-4 win. He allowed 10 hits, a walk and four runs with a strikeout in his ten innings, and we matched them on hits 10-10, led by Masiello with three hits, a run and two RBIs.

Steve Williamson signed his deal, but due to the nearly sixty miles that separate Tell City from Francisco, he won’t be able to join us until we return home for our next series.

August 24, 1871: Francisco broke open a pitcher’s duel with a run in the bottom of the fifth to take the 1-0 lead, but Danny Graham hit a two-run single in the top of the seventh to flip us into the lead 2-1! They tied it in the bottom of the inning, and this one, like yesterday’s before, went into extra innings! We stranded a pair of runners in the top of the 10th, blowing a great chance to take the lead, but in the top of the 11th Chinea hit his eighth homer of the year to put us up a run! But a pair of errors put runners in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the inning, and a passed ball tied the score. Somehow Bjornson was able to get those last two outs and keep this game going, tied 3-3 heading into the 12th. Joe McDonald took over in the bottom of the 12th inning, and with two outs they walked it off with a single by 43-year-old left fielder Carlos Sandoval to beat us 4-3. We outhit them 9-7, led by Chinea with two hits, a run and an RBI, but McDonald took the loss, falling to 3-6 with a 1.65 ERA in his 12th bullpen appearance.

Williamson has replaced Danny Hall on our 15-man lineup as we head back to Tell City to face Jasper (36-50).

August 25, 1871: We had a 10-0 shutout going heading into the sixth inning, before Jasper finally broke through with two in the sixth and a run in the eighth. But this was no contest in the end as we stumped Jasper completely 12-4. Cadenhead picked up his 27th win, allowing nine hits and four runs (two earned) along with three strikeouts, and we outhit them 13-9, behind a four-hit night for Centeno, who scored two and batted in two. Musselman was hoping to get his 100th steal, but he’s stuck at 99 ... though he did hit a double, scoring a run and batting in three.

August 26, 1871: Jasper got the lead in the top of the fourth, but we immediately answered with three in the bottom of the inning to shut their momentum down before it could take any hold. We added a pair in the fifth, and that was all we needed to shut them down again 5-1. Aaron Bjornson is now 32-9 with a 1.80 ERA, getting through the game today with six hits, a walk, two strikeouts and one earned run. We outhit them 10-6, led by Chinea with two hits, two runs and two RBIs.

August 27, 1871: Today we’re on the road against Haubstadt (37-51), and our lead in the Perry Division is now at 10 games over Gatchel, who if the season were to end today would be one of the two wildcards, tied with Princeton at 52-36. They took the lead in the bottom of the first, and we traded runs in the seventh and eighth, going into the top of the ninth trailing 2-1. But an RBI single by Cadenhead tied it up, Jimmy Hall scored when Chinea reahced first on an error, and we scored Cadenhead and Centeno when Danny Graham hit a groundball single that put us comfortably ahead by three with half an inning left! We held them back from there and were able to get out of it with a come-from-behind 5-2 win! Cadenhead had a five-hitter, with a walk and two runs (one earned) in his 28th win of the year, and we outhit them 9-5, led by Hall with two hits, a run and an RBI.

August 28, 1871: Randy Musselman reached first on an error to lead off in the top of the first inning, and he stole second, his 100th steal of the season in just his 84th career start! He went on to score off a single by Johnston, and we led 4-0 midway through the inning. But Musselman wrenched his arm making a diving catch in the outfield in the bottom of the inning, and he pinched a nerve ... after examining him, our doctor pulled him from the game and he’ll miss the next two weeks. Danny Graham replaced him in center field, and we gave back three runs in the inning, and they thought they had us on the ropes. Turned out, as we’ve proven the last few weeks, even when we don’t have our star, our team keeps ticking like a well-built clock, and we just kept adding runs an inning at a time, quietly eliminating them with a 10-4 victory ... one in which we outhit them 15-6. Bjornson improved to 33-9 with a 1.81 ERA, allowing just six hits and four runs, two earned, while Centeno led the offense with three hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs including his 16th home run (Chinea hit his 10th as well, with two hits, a run and an RBI).

14-year-old left fielder Mark Stratton will come off the reserve roster for the next two weeks, and we’re going to have to muddle through without a true center fielder for now, though we’ll definitely be hoping to add someone to the reserve roster who can fill that void ... the perils of small rosters means when injuries strike, we have to make due with local players who are often well below replacement level if one isn’t already on our reserves.

August 29, 1871: This one was a whiplash game on the road as we broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the top of the fourth, only to then give up four runs and the lead in the bottom of the inning as Derby (50-40) took advantage of our weakened defenses in the outfield. Trailing 10-8 in the bottom of the eighth, we brought out Eric Behmer in the hopes that we could keep it close enough for some late-game heroics, and he did his job. But there were no late game heroics, as Derby shut us down in the ninth to win 10-8. Cadenhead took the loss, falling to 28-12 as he allowed 11 hits and 10 runs (four earned) and Derby outhit us 11-10 despite Chinea’s best efforts with three hits, two runs and three RBIs including his 11th homer of the season.

August 30, 1871: We signed a backup center fielder, 33-year-old Izzy “Hellhound” Lopez, who will take Mike Stratton’s spot on the 15-man roster in Musselman’s stead ... it’s too key a defensive position to not have someone who can at least competently handle defense. We held a 2-0 lead midway through the fifth, but they answered with a quick pair to tie it up and took their first lead in the bottom of the seventh off an RBI single by their pitcher Tom Spencer. A failed double steal in the top of the ninth ended this one for us as we lost back to back games in the division, this time by a 3-2 margin. Bjornson fell to 33-10, his first loss in what seems like an eternity (it actually snaps a 17-game winning streak), allowing seven hits and three runs (one earned) with a strikeout. They outhit us 7-5, and it’s becoming clear that as good as our power from Chinea and Centeno has been, Musselman’s energy as our leadoff man has, if anything, been undervalued.

Brad K · 06-14-2025, 12:16 AM

Small town, like wow, I haven't heard of a lot of them. Did you consider putting a team in Gnaw Bone?

jksander · 06-14-2025, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad K

Small town, like wow, I haven't heard of a lot of them. Did you consider putting a team in Gnaw Bone?

Thinking of creating some additional small town leagues as the game progresses ... Gnaw Bone is in Brown County, northeast of the area I'm working with right now, but that would work if I start a league for Brown, Bartholomew, Jackson, Monroe, Johnson and Morgan counties (which would include Bloomington and areas just south of Indianapolis.

I was born and raised in Bloomington, but my family was from Tell City. When my dad got a job teaching high school after a year in Houston, he wound up with us living in Leopold -- which even in 1992 when I was there had just 85 people lol ... at least Tell City now has about 8,000 ... but in the 1870s these towns all would have been way smaller ... only Evansville in the league as it stands would have had more than 30,000 people, most of the towns would have 500 or so, if that

I see it like high school basketball when it first got started in the state. When Hickory won the State title in the 50s, most county schools hadn't consolidated, so back then a sectional in, say, Perry County would have had dozens of small schools competing before they wound up facing the big boys in the center of the state. By the 1960s all those small schools had consolidated into three ... Tell City HS, Cannelton HS and Perry Central. Cannelton has fought off merging for decades now and is the smallest school in the state, with 60 students TOTAL, and that's now in 2025

Anyway, tldr, I wanted to see what OOTP could do with this kind of world. If I don't muck it up by playing with my files too much in the offseasons, maybe eventually we could have a system of competing independent Indiana small town leagues playing in this world

jksander · 06-14-2025, 01:05 AM

And btw, good to see you in the thread, Brad

I remember you being here back in the early 2000s when I was lurking mostly. It's cool to know there are still plenty of OG OOTPers still hanging about

(Efit: There must be two Brad K accounts lol this one says 2016)

jksander · 06-15-2025, 12:55 PM

September 1, 1871: Next up we face Boonville (38-54) here in Tell City, but we’re on a two-game losing streak, and we’re considering ourselves lucky that we’re ten games ahead in the division ... with Musselman out until midmonth, and Alegre lucky to be able to return by October, we’re going to get to see how our players rally around each other. We have a 64-28 record and still lead the division by ten games over Gatchel with 48 games remaining in the season ... games to be played over the next seven weeks or so, with just three off days during that 51-day stretch. If we can stay healthy I think we can maintain our distance and, once we clinch a playoff spot, we can call up reserves to rest tired players a bit ahead of the postseason. But if we can’t stay healthy, we may well be in for a dogfight as the leaves turn orange just trying to maintain position.

Today we were able to keep it close early, tied 1-1 through the third inning, but Boonville scored runs in the fourth and fifth to build a lead. Alex Centeno hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to tie it up, his 18th homer this year, but we couldn’t get over the hump and this one went into extra innings. With two outs in the top of the 10th, Glen Cadenhead gave up a fastball to the wrong hitter and Boonville retook the lead 4-3 thanks to a screaming double down the right field line ... that was all it took for them to beat us by a run and extend our losing streak to three in a row. Cadenhead took his 13th loss, falling to 28-13 with a 2.30 ERA, allowing 11 hits and four runs (one earned) as we got outhit 11-7. Centeno led the way with two hits, a run and an RBI as he maintained his .322 average.

September 2, 1871: We let out a lot of pent-up aggression today against Booneville, building on a 1-0 lead in the sixth to add on nine runs in the bottoms of the sixth and seventh. They never had a chance after that, as we won easily 10-1. Bjornson improved to 34-10, pitching a three-hitter with just the one unearned run, and we outhit Boonville 13-3. Chinea led the way with three hits, a run and four RBIs, and Centeno hit his 19th homer, finishing with a hit, two walks, a run and two RBIs.

September 3, 1871: We’re on the road in Lynnville (44-50) today for the first of two, and the game was a tightly fought one until the top of the ninth. We went into that inning leading 4-3 and needing some insurance, and we bought a whole slate of it with five runs in the top half of the inning ... they never had a chance after that as we closed the door on them 9-3. Cadenhead got the win, his 29th, allowing five hits and three unearned runs, and we outhit them 10-5, led by Steve Williamson with two hits and two runs scored.

September 4, 1871: This time we dominated from the jump, building a 6-0 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning ... but Bjornson had a rough frame, giving up four unanswered runs, and with two outs and runners on second and third we had no choice but to bring out Eric Behmer to douse the flames. Unfortunately he walked a runner to load the bases, and a rolling single into center drove in a pair to tie the score. But he got us into extras, at least, so we had a chance. Or really, we didn’t ... you blow a six-run lead on the road in this league and you’re tempting lightning to strike you. Lynnwood won the game on a passed ball, taking this one 7-6 as we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. We outhit them 10-8 but committed five errors including a critical one in the 10th in the outfield, and though Behmer took the loss (0-1, 5.09 ERA), all six runs in the ninth belonged to Bjornson, and they were ALL earned. Danny Graham led the offense with two hits, two runs and two RBIs.

September 5, 1871: Princeton’s in town for a pair, and they bring their 58-38 record with them, as we stumble around at 66-30 having lost four of our last six games, on the verge of losing the top spot in the league’s power rankings as we try to regain our footing. Princeton led 2-0 after six innings, but we gained three runs in the bottom of the sixth to get our first lead of the game. We were knotted 4-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth, but Alex Centeno powered us through with a three-run walkoff homer to win the game, his 21st of the season as he’s been RED HOT lately. Cadenhead improved to 30-13 with a 2.27 ERA, allowing eight hits, three walks and four runs (three earned) as we held on to win, and we outhit them 10-8, led by three hits and an RBI from Graham and a hit, a walk, two runs and three RBIs for Centeno.

September 6, 1871: We traded runs back and forth through the first seven innings, but we broke through with a Centeno two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth ... that’s 22 for him as he continues to dominate the league with his power! That was all we needed to sweep them 5-3, despite being outhit 8-5 and matching them with four errors each. Centeno led with a hit, a run and two RBIs, and Bjornson improved to 35-10 as he stays on pace to be in consideration for the league’s best pitcher award ... he allowed just eight hits, a walk and three runs (two earned) as we improved to 68-30.

September 7, 1871: We’re on the road in Fort Branch (55-43) as we have managed to actually increase our lead in the division by a game (now up 11 games on Gatchel’s 57-41 record). We’re hoping to get Musselman back in a few days as long as he clears medical examiniations, and though we’re weeks away from being able to clinch a division win (with three teams still to play in our division aside from all the others we’ll still have to face) we’ve avoided an injury-related collapse so far. Tonight we put on a dominant performance against the road team, scoring three in the second and three in the fifth, coasting to an 8-0 shutout victory! We outhit them 8-3, and the three-hit shutout was Cadenhead’s fifth, with the fewest hits allowed of any of them! Scott Hopkins led our offense with three hits and an RBI, while Steve Williamson added a hit, three runs and two RBIs.

September 8, 1871: Tonight we faced a stiffer challenge from Fort Branch, but we still took the lead from them with a two-run double by Chinea in the top of the seventh. That gave us a 3-2 lead we’d carry the rest of the way as we swept them and won our 70th game out of 100 tries. Bjornson pitched a complete game with three hits and two runs, taking just 76 pitches to do it, and we outhit them 6-3, led again by Hopkins with two hits and a run.

September 9, 1871: Birdseye (51-49) has come to Tell City for a pair, and we’re still awaiting news about Musselman’s return. We had a solid 4-2 lead going into the top of the eighth, but Birdseye hit us hard with three runs in the top of that inning. We came up to hit in the bottom of the ninth still trailing by a run, but though we got runners into scoring position, we weren’t able to finish the job. They beat us 5-4 in a game that had been about as evenly matched as any all year. The difference was our fielding, which was atrocious, with five unforced errors. Cadenhead fell to 31-14 with a 10-inning game where all five of his runs were unearned, and Centeno led with a hit, a run and two batted in, thanks to his 23rd homer of the season.

September 10, 1871: We took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first and traded runs in the fourth before locking in ... they couldn’t get anything else through as we held on defensively to win 2-1. This time we were the team with one error to our opponents’ four, and Bjornson improved to 37-10 with four hits, a strikeout and an earned run through nine innings as his ERA improved to 1.84. We outhit them 8-4, led by Chinea, who hit his 13th homer in the bottom of the first, a solo affair that amounted to half our offense.

Musselman is ready to return from the injured list, just in time to force us to cut 30-year-old infielder Paul Alley to make room for Steve Williamson on the reserve roster. Williamson played in 11 games and hit .250 with two doubles and five RBIs, and while playing catcher and backup first base, he didn’t commit a single error. I feel he’s earned his chance to stick around as a defensive backup option, giving the 30-year-old at least the hope that he can continue to make a living playing this game.

September 11, 1871: Musselman is back just in time to face Leopold (55-47) in a divisional battle, as we make the trip up the road to face the team in a town so small most maps don’t even list it. Leopold wasted no time, scoring a run each in the first and second to take an early lead, They piled on with three more in the third, at which point we finally got on board with a run in the top of the fourth. Glen Cadenhead scored a run in the top of the fifth to cut it to three, thanks to a single by Hopkins coupled with a throwing error, and Alex Centeno got us right back in this one by slamming a two-run homer moments later to make it a one-run game. We loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, and with two outs Steve Hopkins hit a single into right that was deep enough for two runners to score ... Tell City leads, 6-5! A wild pitch led to another run scoring, giving us a two-run lead heading into the bottom of the inning, and we held tough to win 7-5 after all the comeback effort. Cadenhead improved to 32-14, allowing just eight hits with five runs (two earned), and we outhit them 12-8, led by Hopkins with three hits, a run and three RBIs. Centeno added two hits two runs and three RBIs including his 25th home run, and Musselman came back with some energy as well, hitting twice and stealing twice as he scored a run.

September 12, 1871: We got going quickly in this one, putting up four runs in the first that were scored off an error, a fielder’s choice, a passed ball and an RBI double by Ryan Carl. But Leopold slowly inched their way back in, tying the score in the fifth with a pair of runs, and in the bottom of the sixth they took the lead 5-4 with a well placed single by second baseman Ed Richards. We trailed by two heading into the top of the ninth, but we tied it up with a two-run single by Carl. That helped us push this one into extra innings, where we took the lead in the top of the 10th off a huge three-run homer by Centeno! Joe McDonald took over in the bottom of the inning, getting two quick outs and then handing Leopold two singles, a passed ball putting both runners into scoring position. But a groundout to first ended the game as a 9-6 Tell City victory, as we completed the road sweep. Bjornson improved to 38-10 with 11 hits and six runs (four earned), and we outhit them 13-8, led by Centeno with three hits, two runs and four RBIs. He’s been making a great case since Musselman suffered his mid-August injury that he could be the league’s MVP based solely off his incredible power ... he’s currently hitting .322 with 25 doubles, 26 homers and 91 runs batted in, not bad at all for an 18-year-old!

September 14, 1871: Chrisney (54-50) is in town for a pair of games, and they’re still within six games of a wildcard spot, though they’re stuck in the same division as St. Meinrad so the wildcard is their only real hope of extending their season into late October and early November. They hit us hard in the top of the second with four quick runs, and with us trailing 10-2 heading into the sixth inning we had to go to the bullpen, bringing out McDonald as we fought furiously to come back. We did pick up a pair in the sixth and three more in the eighth, and McDonald got us through the top of the ninth still trailing just by the three remaining runs. But there was no comeback left in us, as Chrisney stumped us in the end 10-7. Cadenhead fell to 32-15 with a 2.23 ERA, allowing 12 hits and 10 runs (four earned) in his five innings, but McDonald impressed with four innings and just three hits, walking one and striking out another as his ERA improved to 1.27 through 21.1 relief innings. They outhit us 15-12, despite Musselman putting up three hits, a walk, a run and three RBIs.

September 15, 1871: Today’s game was the reverse of yesterday’s, as we blew them out of the water with hit after hit, the runs coming in at a ridiculous pace. We led 11-0 after six innings, and would go on to flatten them completely by a 13-0 margin, Bjornson pitching a three-hit complete game shutout (his fourth shutout of the year and third with three hits). We picked up a staggering EIGHTEEN hits, and Centeno had a great game even for him, hitting five times with four runs and two RBIs to lead the way.

September 16, 1871: Melody Hill (49-57) hosted us this afternoon, and after two innings with the score knotted 1-1, they took the lead in the third and didn’t look back. We tried on several occasions to get a run around to start a rally, but they stood their ground and beat us soundly 3-1. Cadenhead only allowed four hits, a walk and three (unearned) runs, but we only had four baserunners the entire game, led by Musselman with two hits and our only run, along with his 103rd steal of the season. Centeno went hitless, snapping his hitting streak at 22 games.

September 17, 1871: We struck back against Melody Hill nicely in game two, going up 2-0 in the first and holding it successfully through the remainder of the game. They picked up one lone run in the bottom of the ninth, but it didn’t matter in a 6-1 blowout win, as we outhit them 11-5 getting there -- picking up our 75th win in the process. Aaron Bjornson has won 40 of those through 54 starts, allowing five hits and a run tonight as his ERA stayed at 1.83 through 483 innings. Centeno hit three times with a walk, two runs and two RBIs. Bjornson now has a three-win lead on his nearest competitor, and Cadenhead (with 32 wins) is in fourth place in the ORBL.

September 18, 1871: Newburgh (33-75) has been one of the worst teams in the league this season, though they’re not eliminated from playoff contention entirely yet (that distinction goes to Highland, which at 27-81 has become the first team to be mathematically eliminated from wildcard hopes). And they fought us hard in this one, tying the game at 2-2 in the top of the sixth, but we scored four in the bottom of that inning and it sealed the deal, our club beating theirs 6-2. Cadenhead allowed five hits, a walk and two earned runs, and we outhit them 6-5, led by Ryan Carl with two hits, a run and two RBIs.

September 19, 1871: Newburgh again tried to be competitive, this time tying us 2-2 in the fourth, but we outscored them 6-0 from there -- this one went into the books as another 8-2 blowout win. We outhit them 10-7, led by Masiello who had three hits and four RBIs, and Bjornson pitched a complete game with seven hits and two runs (one earned) as he continued his league domination.

September 20, 1871: Gatchel played host to us today, and the 63-47 club, sitting in third while just a game behind Troy, needs these wins as the outside team looking in on the wildcard leaders. We took the lead 3-0 in the top of the first but they picked up two in the bottom of the fourth and tied it in the sixth off a line drive single from outfielder Chris Porter. This one stayed that way into extra innings tied at 3-3, Musselman scored off a sac-fly in the top of the 10th to put us into the lead, but they walked it off in the bottom of the inning when Porter hit a single that, thanks to an error in center field, led to two scored runs. We lost 5-4, and they got to tighten up the wildcard race. Cadenhead took the loss, allowing 11 hits, a walk and five runs (one earned) while striking out a pair, and we only had eight baserunners all game, led by Musselman with two hits, a walk, four steals and two runs scored.

September 21, 1871: Masiello needed a day off badly, so we moved extra reliever Eric Behmer to the reserves to make room for Steve Williamson to take the start behind home plate. The game was close early on, with our team ahead 3-1 after seven innings. But in the top of the eighth we broke it wide open with six uncontested runs, and we’d go on to win easily 10-1. Bjornson improved to 42-10 with a 1.80 ERA, allowing just four hits and a run with two strikeouts, and we outhit them 14-4 behind a two hit, two run three RBI game for Steve Hopkins.

September 22, 1871: Rockport (61-51) came into town this afternoon for the first of two games, and the game quickly became a slugfest for both teams. We took an early 6-2 lead after three, but Rockport got three back, one each in the fourth, fifth and sixth, to get within a run. But we answered with four runs across the fifth and sixth, and they never got any closer than four again as we beat them 10-6. We outhit them 12-9, led by Williamson our catcher with three hits, two runs and two RBIs ... he’s hitting .289 through his first 48 at-bats as a backup, earning his late-season contract payment.

September 23, 1871: We had a 4-1 lead going into the top of the seventh in this one, but Rockport got a run back in the top of the inning, and with two in scoring position and two outs we decided to bring out McDonald to replace Bjornson. Rockport tied it up with a single by their pitcher, Rich Simpson, so McDonald got tagged with a blown save opportunity, but we picked up three runs in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a three-run double by Chinea, and he closed things out well in the ninth to get us a 7-4 win. That was his third blown save, but he improved to 4-6 with a 1.14 ERA, pitching 2.1 innings with just two hits, and we outhit Rockport 12-8, led by Chinea with three hits and five RBIs.

September 24, 1871: We travelled to Tennyson (51-63) this afternoon and Tennyson scored first, picking up a run in the bottom of the second. But we answered with six runs in a row across the third and fourth, and scored another three in the sixth to turn this into a rout. They closed the gap in the later innings but never got closer than three runs as we stumped them 9-6. Cadenhead allowed 15 hits, a walk and six runs (one earned) with two strikeouts, but he got his 35th win ... and we pulled it out despite being outhit 15-10. Musselman led the way with a hit, a walk, a steal and three runs scored.

September 25, 1871: This game was INSANE ... they’d built a 3-0 lead on us through six innings, but we came out in the top of the seventh and batted around a time and a half, putting up ELEVEN RUNS to completely demoralize them! Tennyson had no answer at all after that, and we won easily 11-3, improving to 82-34 on the season. We outhit them 11-7, Carl leading the way with three hits, two runs and two RBIs, and Bjornson was unflappable with just seven hits and three runs (two earned) in yet another complete game for the 17-year-old.

September 27, 1871: Huntingburg (52-64) is well out of the race for any postseason spots, but we haven’t clinched our playoff spot yet either, so we are working to maintain an even keel and focus on getting the job done, with our magic number sitting at 10 to become the first team to clinch. We were leading 15-3 in the top of the fifth inning when Glen Cadenhead had to be pulled due to an injury after a bad slide, Joel McDonald taking over for him while team doctors worriedly rushed Cadenhead into the clubhouse. McDonald did his job, and we went on to completely annihilate Huntingburgh by a 17-3 margin, but there was a pall over things as we wait to find out if we’ve lost one of our pitchers long term. We outhit Huntingburgh 16-8 and they committed SEVENTEEN errors ... that’s right, you heard me. Chris Johnson led with two hits, four runs and two RBIs (his four runs setting a team record for runs scored by a player in a game) and McDonald picked up the win, throwing five innings with four hits, a walk and two strikeouts as he improved to 5-6 with a 0.94 ERA through 28.2 innings.

Glen Cadenhead’s injury could have been much worse than it was ... it turns out his knee is inflamed, and he’ll be day to day for a couple weeks. We’re going to move him to the bullpen and start McDonald during that time, using Cadenhead only as a reliever with limited hitting / running during the next two weeks.

September 28, 1871: We took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, and though Huntingburgh kept this one close enough that we wouldn’t overlook them, we led confidently through the eighth inning, Bjornson pitching in the top of the ninth with a three-run lead. He shut them down efficiently and we held tough to win 6-3, continuing our march toward clinching the division win. They outhit us 12-11, but Bjornson picked up his 44th win anyway, allowing 12 hits with three runs (one earned) and a walk, while Hopkins led our offense with two hits, one run and three RBIs.

September 29, 1871: Tony Alegre’s back off the injured list, so we’ve moved Steve Williamson back to the reserves, and in order to keep him there we had to release 44-year-old pitcher Jim Novak, who has chosen to retire from baseball. We traveled to Grandview (58-60) today, Joe McDonald making his first start of the season after 16 bullpen appearances, and we got out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third thanks to a passed ball, an RBI triple for Musselman, and to an error that allowed Chinea to reach first safely. McDonald acquitted himself well through seven innings, but he got rung up for four runs in the eighth, and with one out and a man on second Cadenhead came out of the pen to protect what was left of our lead. They got a run off a wild pitch to cut the lead to 7-5, and with two outs another run scored off a single and an E9 error, making this one a tense affair. But a pop-out to short ended the inning with the lead still intact, and we added a run on in the top of the ninth with two outs thanks to an E6 error that let Centeno on base. Cadenhead got two outs in the bottom of the ninth then let runners take the corners ... but Fernando Rocha, their third baseman, hit into a fielder’s choice with Johnston making the unassisted out at second, getting us the 8-6 win. That gave Cadenhead his first save, a 1.2 inning effort with two hits and an unearned run, while McDonald improved to 6-6 with a 1.75 ERA after allowing six hits and five runs (four earned) with three walks and two strikeouts through 7.1 innings in his first start. They outhit us 8-6, but the difference maker was our two triples and the grand slam home run that Alegre hit in the sixth inning to break the game open. Welcome back, Alegre! It seems appropriate that he hit our first “grand slam” against Grandview, don’t you think?

September 30, 1871: We finished the month with our final game against Grandview, and we took the lead in the third, adding five runs on in the fourth and fifth to lead 6-1 heading into the top of the sixth. From there the game turned into another rout as we destroyed them in the end 13-2! Bjornson picked up his 45th win of the year and got his ERA down to 1.75 thanks to just seven hits, two runs (one earned) and a walk, striking out five batters along the way! Strikeouts haven’t been a huge part of this league, but today’s game did get him to 54 K’s on the season, a very solid mark. We outhit them 16-7, led by Centeno who had three hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

With three weeks left in the season, we’re now just a few wins away from clinching the division and, with it, a guaranteed spot in this year’s playoffs. We and St. Meinrad (78-42) are by far the top two teams in the league, with no other divisions or wildcard spots likely to be decided until the very end of the regular season.

jksander · 06-23-2025, 05:55 AM

More updates coming soon ... I've been dealing with dental issues that have made it difficult to do more than keep up with my online leagues this past week.

Brad K · 06-23-2025, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jksander

And btw, good to see you in the thread, Brad

I remember you being here back in the early 2000s when I was lurking mostly. It's cool to know there are still plenty of OG OOTPers still hanging about

(Efit: There must be two Brad K accounts lol this one says 2016)

There is another person BradK. No space.

I haven't posted much to the simulations forums since I finished the Pirates Moneyball save. I'm surprised people still are reading it.

Back in the 80s and 90s I traveled the middle third of Indiana for work.

jksander · 06-24-2025, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad K

There is another person BradK. No space.

I haven't posted much to the simulations forums since I finished the Pirates Moneyball save. I'm surprised people still are reading it.

Back in the 80s and 90s I traveled the middle third of Indiana for work.

Nice! I was born in the middle of Indiana ... Bloomington to be exact

That Pirates moneyball sim was a keeper, as much as the Cubs fan in me wanted to hate it lol

Brad K · 06-24-2025, 12:29 PM

The Pirates had some success but enough hardship to make it interesting.

If I do it again I'll put short term injuries on high.

06-06-2025, 12:08 PM	#1
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,528	The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) January 1, 1871: As the game of baseball has begun to grow in regional popularity throughout the southern Indiana region, particularly along the Ohio River, and such as that small towns have been clamoring for an opportunity to have players showcase their given talents upon the baseball diamond in a way that each town can build up a reputation for exceptional sportsmanship, a group of like-minded businessmen have gathered to create at this time an organization for the promotion of such exemplary athleticism. That conglomerate of baseballer clubs will from here forward be known as the Ohio River Baseball League, and will consist of thirty-six teams spread over six counties in southern Indiana: Perry, Spencer, Dubois, Warrick, Vanderburgh and Gibson. These teams will play through a 140-game season each year from mid-May through the end of October, and will eventually crown six division champions and a pair of wild-card teams who will then complete in a playoff tournament to determine the ORBL’s annual champion. The following towns will compete in this league going forward: *Perry Division* Gatchel Baseball Club Troy Baseball Club Cannelton Baseball Club Leopold Baseball Club Tell City Baseball Club Derby Baseball Club *Spencer Division* St. Meinrad Baseball Club Rockport Baseball Club Santa Claus Baseball Club Lincoln City Baseball Club Christney Baseball Club Grandview Baseball Club *Dubois Division* Celestine Baseball Club Holland Baseball Club Ferdinand Baseball Club Birdseye Baseball Club Jasper Baseball Club Huntingburg Baseball Club *Warrick Divison* Lynnville Baseball Club Newburgh Baseball Club Boonville Baseball Club Tennyson Baseball Club Elberfeld Baseball Club Chandler Baseball Club *Vanderburgh Division* Evansville Baseball Club Darmstadt Baseball Club Knob Hill Baseball Club Mechanicsville Baseball Club Highland Baseball Club Melody Hill Baseball Club *Gibson Division* Fort Branch Baseball Club Oakland City Baseball Club Haubstadt Baseball Club Patoka Baseball Club Princeton Baseball Club Francisco Baseball Club My name is Edwin Burke, and I’m running the *Tell City Baseball Club* in the Perry Division. The league is running a draft of interested players to fill our rosters, a ten round draft that will provide each team with two thirds of its roster. We’ll then spend the rest of the spring finding additional players through tryouts, and will start our inagural season in May! Attached Images __________________ The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

06-06-2025, 12:21 PM	#2
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,528	May 1871: A Roster Takes Shape ... May 1, 1871: We’re a few weeks away from starting the first season of ORBL baseball competition, and we’ve got our rosters set and ready to go! The league limits teams to 15 players on the major league roster, with a ten-man reserve roster available for player development and injury replacement purposes. Each team will use a two-man starting rotation, with most teams keeping at least two and sometimes three pitchers for “relief” work, though starters can pitch relief innings as well, so regardless of what happens, the two pitchers on each team who are designated as starters are expected to pitch a large percentage of their team’s innings. We’ve chosen to just carry two relievers on our 15-man, which will allow us to have greater flexibility in alternating defensive players in tight games. *Starting Lineup* C Tony Alegre, 23 ... above average fielder, should hit very well for contact 1B Alex Centino, 18 ... aggressive at the plate, average contact, good strike zone recognition 2B Ismael Chinea, 28 ... good power swing, good plate discipline, acceptable fielding ability 3B Steve Hopkins, 22 ... incredible contact ability, should challenge for the league batting title constantly SS Chris Johnston, 22 ... above average defensive infielder, great pop off the bat but a slow runner ... a premier shortstop LF Mike Stratton, 14 ... advanced approach at the plate, solid but not flashy on defense ... young, but his athleticism is getting him off the farm CF Randy Musselman, 28 ... has great speed, is very athletic in center field, has good pop off his bat and is a clubhouse leader RF Ryan Carl, 16 ... another young farm kid, should hit plenty of homers, knows when to swing and when not to ... loads of promise *Active Bench* C Bubba Masiello, 25 ... should draw plenty of walks, good contact with the bat, big league average type of player 2B David Chesnut, 18 ... should develop into above average defender, has above average speed and is a switch-hitter with a sweet swing LF Alex Fernandez, 20 ... excels at drawing walks, and has plus power potential and would be a starter if he could make consistent contact *Starting Pitchers* 1 Glen Cadenhead, 27 ... deep repetroire of five pitches, all “stuff” but little control ... but his stuff is phenomenal, an ace in this era 2 Aaron Bjornson, 17 ... a stocky lefty Swede hurler ... raw stuff but above average control with plus changeup, splitter and curve *Bullpen* ST Joe McDonald, 19 ... “The Muncie Mauler,” has a brilliant fastball and changeup, highly adaptable, a true high leverage reliever MR Eric Behmer, 21 ... right handed pitcher with a potentially devastating changeup, could become an ace but is undeveloped *Reserve Roster* SP Ryan Cronin, 37 ... clubhouse leader, hopes to become a starter in the ORBL if his age doesn’t slow him SP Jim Novak, 44 ... he’s old and fragile, but has a six pitch mix so he has a chance if we get decimated by injuries RP Drew Bellomy, 24 ... has a good arsenal but lacks control, his high walk rate may keep him from being a high leverage reliever RP David Rosenberger, 18 ... has a decent fastball and one of the best curveballs in the league, but needs to develop his wandering command 2B Paul Alley, 29 ... good discpline at the plate but struggles to make contact consistently, a borderline player 2B Danny Hall, 18 ... needs to develop but has excellent power potential, and could become a league leading infielder 2B Bobby Marietta, 28 ... great speed and stealing ability, loyal and has work ethic, makes regular contact with an aggressive approach 3B Bobby Soto, 29 ... needs a lot of improvement at the plate if he wants to ever get off the reserve squad, replacement level at best SS Jimmy Hall, 28 ... good contact, quick hands, can hit for some power ... stands a solid chance of promotion if he keeps working at it LF Danny Graham, 30 ... basically here as a desperation outfield option, it’s questionable he has what it takes ... replacement level at best Eric Boehmer is our best “prospect,” voted by the regional press as the #8 youth prospect in the league. Aaron Bjornson was picked 11th, Joe McDonald at 14th and Danny Hall 28th, and we have a total of eight young players who were ranked in the top 50 among all 36 ORBL teams. Since our league does not as of yet allow trading and our roster limits keep teams to a maximum of 25 total players on contract at any given time, until those rules are changed by a majority of team owners we have to work within that framework -- and as it stands I am confident we have a team right now that can compete on the field immediately while holding good promise for your young players to eventually find their way into competition. Fighting for spots on the reserve roster over time will likely become insanely heated, with very few spots and teams competing to find new young prospects to fill them. So guys like Graham, Soto and Alley on our reserve roster will need to keep putting in the work if they expect to have a chance in this league. The Ohio River Baseball League is considered a minor league "independent" operation, so teams will only accrue minor league stats. As the world expands we expect to see a "Major League" of truly professional teams develop, but this is real small town baseball with a real regional bent. __________________ The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Last edited by jksander; 06-06-2025 at 12:23 PM.

06-06-2025, 12:24 PM	#3
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,528	May 1871: A Look At Finances May 15, 1871: Let’s take a look at league financials. With our team as an example, all of our players on the major league roster combine for around $2,678, with minor league contract costs of our reserve roster keeping us right around $2,813. We operate under the reserve clause, so player contracts will auto-renew at an arbitrated rate unless we choose at the end of the season to sever ties with a player. Our team salaries put us 33rd out of 36 teams in the Ohio Valley Baseball League -- Holland Baseball Club has the lowest, at $2,275, while the Patoka Baseball Club is spending $5,338 this year. We’ve opted, however, to put an emphasis on finding young players with a lot of upside and putting money into developing them ... our current overall budget is $8,500, and we’re putting $3,366 of that into development, by far the highest amount in the league this first season. For the most part tickets around the league are set at a dime each, and though we’ve been picked by the local press to finish close to last in the division, teams appear to be pretty equal across the board and competition is expected to be razor-sharp all year, so anything can happen. We sold nearly 500 season tickets, and are expected to have attendance around 1,100 per game, and we’re anticipating profits of around $2,100 this first year. Right now the league is operating with a cash cap of $7,500, which should force team owners to invest capital in their teams rather than raking in tons of cash and sitting on it. Whether teams will choose to invest heavily in development like we are, or choose to offer higher contracts to induce new signings, that will remain to be seen. For now we’re only allowed to offer one year contracts to players which makes sense with our small rosters and the reserve clause contract rules. Our season officially will open in a week and a half, when we travel to play the Holland Baseball Club on the 24th and 25th of this month. The season will consist of 140 games, played in seventy series of two games apiece, going through the third week of October, after which the six division winners and two wildcards with the best record among non division winners will take part in three rounds of playoff baseball. __________________ The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

06-06-2025, 12:34 PM	#4
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,528	May 24-31, 1871: The Inagural ORBL Season Begins! May 24, 1871: Today we played our first game of the season against Holland in front of nearly 1,200 of their fans, and in the top of the fourth wek took a two-run lead thanks to an RBI single by Ismael Chinea and a passed ball moments later that allowed Chris Johnston to score from third! We added on a run in the fifth and three more in the sixth to turn the game into a blowout. They never recovered, and we blanked them in the end 6-0, outhitting their team 11-4! Both pitchers went the distance, and Glen Cadenhead only allowed four hits, walking three and striking out two as he picked up the win. We had four players hit twice each, with Chris Johnston leading the way with two hits, a walk, a run and an RBI. Mike Stratton had a hit and two RBIs as well, as we thoroughly dominated our first opponent of the season. May 25, 1871: In our second game against Holland, they took the lead in the bottom of the first off a hit into a fielder’s choice by Randy Leishman, their 23-year-old centerfielder. We tied it up in the top of the fifth when a wild pitch allowed Randy Musselman to score from third, and though we traded leads a couple times in the middle innings, this one was knotted up at 3-all heading into extras. In the bottom of the 10th we had two outs, but their third baseman Willie Aleman reached first on an E3 error that allowed Leishman to score the winning run as Holland split the series with a 4-3 win. Aaron Bjornson took the loss, allowing seven hits through 9.2 innings with two walks, a strikeout and four runs ... though only two were earned so he starts his year with a 1.86 ERA. We outhit Holland 8-7, led by Randy Musselman who had two hits and a run scored. May 26, 1871: This afternoon we got to have our home opener, facing Celestine in the first of two games. We had 1,184 fans along the knolls around our home field, and they all came to boisterous life when, in the bottom of the fifth, Ryan Carl and Glen Cadenhead both scored as Alex Centeno took first on an E5 error! That’s all the “offense” either team had to put forward, but it was enough as we held tough to win 2-0! Glen Cadenhead improved to 2-0 and has yet to give up any runs, though today he allowed nine hits without a walk or a strikeout. They managed to outhit us 9-5 and not score a run, and nobody on our team got more than one hit (nobody walked for either team in the game, but we did strike out twice ... what a strange game this was! May 27, 1871: In game two against Celestine, we broke it open with four runs in the bottom of the third, two of which came off errors! There were plenty of those to go around, though Celestine committed six to our four ... fielding prowess overall is not a real thing in this league it is abundantly clear. But we traded runs with them the rest of the way and held them off soundly 7-3 despite the miscues. We outhit them 9-6, led by Ismael Chinea with three hits and two RBIs while Randy Musselman added two hits, two runs and an RBI. Meanwhile Bjornson improved to 1-1 with a 1.45 ERA, allowing just six hits with a walk and three runs (one earned). It’s a long season, but so far we’ve not had to use our bullpen -- that will likely come into play the more extra innings battles we have. May 28, 1871: We’ve started our season with a 3-1 record, but today we faced the Troy Baseball Club, who hosted this game with a perfect 4-0 record, winning three of their four games by one-run margins! Early on in this one it appeared they’d have their way with us just as easily -- they scored off a groundout in the bottom of the third and added on with an RBI single by their 35-year-old center fielder Kamar Edwards in the bottom of the seventh. But we erased their 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in our general style ... Chris Johnson hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Musselman from third, and then Ismael Chinea hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Alex Centeno! For the second time in a week we went into extra innings, and this time we had better luck ... in the top of the 10th Steve Hopkins scored off a wild pitch to give us the lead, and Glen Cadenhead iced it in the bottom of the inning, pitching around loaded bases by getting their pinch hitter out on a fly-out to short! Just like that we won 3-2, and they’re perfect no longer. Cadenhead, however, IS still close to perfect ... he gave up his first earned run (along with an unearned one) and is now 3-0 with a sparkling 0.32 ERA. Today he got through 10 innings with 10 hits and a walk. Only one perfect team remains, and that is the Oakland City Baseball Club in the Gibson Division. They’re now 5-0, with Princeton sitting behidn them at 4-1. Our division may be the toughest early on, with us, Leopold, Gatchel and Troy now all tied at 4-1. Only Jasper (0-5) in the Dubois Division hasn’t yet won a game. May 29, 1871: In the rubber match against Troy in today’s game we gave the crowd a show ... Troy took the lead 3-0 in the bottom of the third with a two-run single (thanks to an E8 error on our part) and a run scored off a passed ball, but we picked up two runs in the top of the fifth off errors, and then Steve Hopkins, our 22-year-old third baseman, hit the first home run in the history of the Tell City Baseball Club to tie it up! In the top of the sixth we took the lead when Bubba Masiello singled and, thanks to an E8 error, Ismael Chinea scored. Aaron Bjornson then hit an RBI single to make it a 5-3 lead. Troy got a run back in the bottom of the inning, but we staved them off from there, winning 5-4 to complete the two-game sweep! Bjornson (2-1, 1.95 ERA) allowed nine hits and a walk with four runs, three of them earned ... but he also hit three times with a run and an RBI, giving him a .273 average through his first three games. We outhit them 10-9, and we’re now in a three-way tie for first with Leopold and Gatchel. We’ll finish out the month with a pair against Santa Claus Baseball Club here in Tell City ... they’re off to a miserable 1-5 start, and only one player on their team, and they only have 14 total runs batted in in their first six games. We don’t play Leopold until June 27-28, and won’t face Gatchel until July 6-7. May 30, 1871: Both of our teams scored in the first inning of the opening game agianst Santa Claus, but their club picked up runs in the third and fourth to build a lead they held into the bottom of the seventh. That’s when we pounced! Steve Hopkins slid safely into home for a run on a botched fielder’s choice, Ismael Chinea hit a sac-fly to drive home Centino from third, and Tony Alegre reached on an E7 error, letting Hopkins score to put us up 4-3! Try as they might, Santa Claus couldn’t get anyone in to score from there, and we held them off to win this one by the one run. Cadenhead improved to 4-0, allowing 10 hits, three runs (two earned) and striking out a pair as his ERA “exploded” to 0.72. He continued our streak of complete games for our starters, but we’ll be glad to have solid bullpen arms when we need them. Our opponents outhit us 10-6, but we capitalized on more of their errors than they did of ours, which paid off in the end. Randy Musselman hit twice for two runs, giving him a .344 average, while Chinea hit himself up to .296 with a pair of hits and his fourth RBI of the year. May 31, 1871: Tonight’s game was not our finest offensive performance by any stretch, but it was even worse from a defensive standpoint. Santa Claus hammered us for four runs in the top of the third, two coming off an RBI triple by third baseman T.J. Back, and we spent the rest of the game chasing them and never finding enough momentum. We also committed five errors to their four, they outhit us 8-7, and despite two runs for us in garbage time they still held tough to win 5-3. Aaron Bjornson only allowed one earned run, so our defense completely let him down ... though he let them hit eight times too as he fell to 2-2 with a 1.72 ERA. Bjornson is having the early trials you’d expect from a 17-year-old, so we’re not putting much stress on him to attain perfection. The wins will come. We’ve decided to send 14-year-old Mike Stratton down to the reserve squad to pick up some experience as part of our practice group. He has hit .200 through eight games, but has looked lost in the outfield and likely needs development time before he’ll be ready to play consistently agains this level of competition. We’re bringing up 30-year-old Danny Graham to compete with Alex Fernandez for starts in left. Rockport’s superb first baseman Will Black has been making waves in the first couple weeks, batting .594 with three doubles and seven RBIs, leading all hitters in the league by 72 points. Shortstop Jesus Lopez of Highland Baseball Club has a league high of 13 RBIs and a pair of homers, but his poor defense has dragged his team down and they’re currently sitting in last place in the Vanderburgh Division with a 2-6 record. Our ace Glen Cedenhead is one of four pitchers who are currently 4-0, but right now the pitcher with the best ERA is Corey Thomison, a 43-year-old former coal miner who plays for St. Meinrad ... through 27.1 innings over four appearances (three of them starts) he has only allowed one earned run, giving him a 0.33 ERA along with an 0.62 WHIP. This is not a league for strikeout pitchers, as four pitchers are currently combined for the lead in that category with eight each. __________________ The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

06-06-2025, 09:56 PM	#5
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,528	June 1-15, 1871: Birth of Rivalries As Summer Heats Up June 1, 1871: Elberfeld is our next opponent, and in front of 1,000 or so of their most ardent fans we took the lead in the top of the third with a single by Alex Centeno that was coupled with an E9 throwing error. We added three more in the top of the fifth, but Cadenhead did not fare well in the bottom of that inning, giving up seven runs in quick succession while getting just one out! He got us out of the inning, but in the bottom of the sixth we went to our bullpen for the first time all year, bringing out 21-year-old right-handed reliever Eric Behmer! In the top of the seventh we scored two runs off a single by Ryan Carl, getting back within a run, but they scored five runs across the seventh and eighth innings and we lost this one 12-7 in the end. Cadenhead fell to 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA, allowing eight hits and seven runs (six earned), and Behmer pitched three innings but allowed eight hits, a walk and five more runs (four earned) though he came in trailing by three and never once saw a lead. They outhit us 16-8, completely outclassing us in this one, though Carl did have two hits and two RBIs as our offensive leader. June 2, 1871: This one was a bumpy ride ... we took a one run lead in the top of the first off an RBI single by Danny Graham, but Elberfeld took the lead with two RBI singles and a groundout in the bottom of the third. Randy Musselman hit into a fielder’s choice in the top of the fourth and after he stole second, an E2 fielding error allowed Ismael Chinea to score the tying run. But they added three runs on in the bottom of the fifth and it looked like that was going to be all it took. Musselman got us a run back with an RBI double in the sixth, but we went into the top of the ninth trailing still by two runs. That’s when we erupted! With two outs and the game looking like it was over, Danny Graham hit a two-run triple to tie the game and David Chesnut singled in the go-ahead with help from an E9 error! We got the outs we needed in the bottom of the inning to hold them off, beating Elberfeld 7-6 to split the series. Aaron Bjornson improved to 3-2 with a 1.97 ERA while pitching a complete game six-hitter, walking three, striking out one and allowing six runs, three of them earned. We outhit them 10-6, led by left fielder Danny Graham, who went 4-5 with a run and three batted in. June 3, 1871: We’re back at home facing the 5-5 Mechanicsville Baseball Club, and this one quickly became a high scoring game ... we scored first, Musselman coming in to take the lead off a passed ball, but Mechanicsville hit two RBI singles, an RBI double and scored a fourth run off an E4 error to go up 4-1 midway through the second. We fought back valliantly, tying the score in the bottom of the eighth at 7-7 with another passed ball letting Danny Graham come home safely, and we shut them down in the top of the inning to give ourselves a chance to steal it in the bottom of the frame, but instead we left two runners stranded and this one went to extra innings. We brought out 19-year-old reliever Joe McDonald in the top of the 10th, and though they got the lead off a wild pitch in the top of the inning, we capitalized off two Mechanicsville errors in the bottom of the inning, and Ismael Chinea walked it off with a single as we stole this one 9-8 after ten innings! That gave McDonald the win out of the bullpen, having allowed no hits, no walks, no strikeouts and the one (unearned) run. Cadenhead was unlucky all night, allowing seven runs of which only one was earned, but he got us through nine innings, and we outslugged them 18-9 ... too bad this was a game of errors, with us committing nine to their eight. Our leadoff man, Bobby Musselman, was phenomenal as always, hitting 4-5 with a walk, three runs and an RBI, while Danny Graham hit two times for two runs. June 4, 1871: Hard to top a win like yesterday’s, but we had the rematch against Mechanicsville today, and this time it was far less climactic. We scored in the first, third and fifth and then, with a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, we picked up three more ... and Musselman was involved in seemingly every huge play we made all game. We held firm from there and were able to win easily 6-1. Musselman was 3-4 with four runs scored, stealing a pair of bases as well -- he now has stolen ten bases this season, and we out hit Mechanicsville 10-5. Bjornson is on a roll, pitching another complete game, this time a five-hitter with two walks, a strikeout and one unearned run. He is now 4-2 with a 1.65 ERA through six starts. June 6, 1871: The 7-5 St. Meinrad Baseball Club hosted us today for the first of two, as we bring our team into their house with a 9-3 record, currently good for second place in our county’s Division. And this one was a snooze from an offensive standpoint -- St. Meinrad took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI triple and an RBI single, and we never managed to even counter it. They outhit us 5-3 en route to the 2-0 shutout win, as Glen Cadenhead lost his second game of the season. He’s now 5-2 with a 1.83 ERA, tonight allowing five hits and two earned runs with just one strikeout as they squashed us defensively. We committed three errors, while they played clean defensive baseball, and only four players got on base for us the entire game. Not a recipe for success, but we can get ‘em back tomorrow. June 7, 1871: In this one we got off to a quick start Musselman scoring off a single by Tony Alegre and Steve Hopkins scoring a few minutes later off the combination of a wild pitch and an E6 groundball error. But St. Meinrad got back into it efficiently, tying the game 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth off a pased ball. So we needed a rally, and this time we got a sustained one ... a single by Hopkins got us the lead back in the top of the sixth, and an error allowed Hopkins to score himself to add on a run. We got a run each in the seventh and eighth to add on, and were able to get out of town with a 7-3 victory, splitting the series against a tough opponent. It wasn’t pretty ... we had 10 errors to their eight, but we also outhit them 12-5, and Bjornson improved to 5-2 with a five-hitter, walking two and allowing just one earned run in all the craziness. He now has a 1.55 ERA and an 0.90 WHIP through his first 63.2 IP, and he’s looking like his vast arsenal of pitches are starting to come under his firm control. Randy Musselman led the offense with three hits and two runs scored, keeping his average as a solid .390 in the leadoff spot. June 8, 1871: Francisco (7-7) are in town for a pair, and we’re ready to build off yesterday’s win and start to find momentum. But Francisco scored three in the top of the first and we spent the rest of the game trying to claw it all back. Ismael Chinea hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second, and Alex Centeno hit one in the bottom of the seventh. An inning later we tied the score at 3-3 when Alex Fernandez hit an RBI single that was coupled with an E8 error, and we shut them down in the top of the ninth, needing just a walkoff anything to get us the victory ... but we weren’t able to find a well-timed hit, and went into extras once again. Joe McDonald came out of the bullpen to start the top of the 10th, and we had a chance in the bottom of the inning when Tony Alegre reached on an E6 error with one out, stealing second AND third ... but Ryan Carl grounded out and Fernandez hit a pop-fly to left to keep this one going. Francisco finally broke through in the top of the 13th when, with men on second and third and two outs, their left fielder Brian McCarthy reached first on an E6 error, driving in both runs as he took second. Trailing by two runs in the bottom of the inning, we got a run back on two outs when Tony Alegre scored off a wild pitch, moments after stealing third, but we couldn’t get Ismael Chinea around to score, dropping this one 5-4 in a 13th inning heartbreaker. Glen Cadenhead gave us nine innings with six hits, two walks, a strikeout and three runs -- ALL unearned -- and Joe McDonald lasted four innings in relief with four hits, a walk and a strikeout, both of HIS runs being unearned as well. We had five errors to their four and outhit them 12-10, led by Centeno with three hits and an RBI, while Alegre had a hit, three steals and two runs scored. June 9, 1871: In game two against Francisco we wasted no time in scoring, taking the lead in the bottom of the second when Danny Graham drove in a run off an error, with Ryan Carl hitting a two-run double a few minutes later. We had four runs heading into the top of the fifth when they got a pair back to make the game interesting. But Carl got us an insurance run with an RBI single in the sixth and we held on to win 5-2. Aaron Bjornson got his sixth win, improving to 6-2 with a complete game five-hitter with two runs (one earned) a walk and a strikeout, improving his ERA to 1.49. We outhit them 10-5 and stayed relatively calm in the error department with three, with Alex Centeno and Chris Johnson each hitting twice with a run scored. But those two have combined for 29 errors at first and shortstop, a common issue in this league where if you can get the ball into play, just about anything can happen. June 10, 1871: We’re on the road this weekend in Jasper to face their club and its 7-9 record. Jasper is an outlier in the league, choosing to go with two starters and one ace bullpen “closer,” and they’ve yet to use their reliever in any games. They kept the game pretty close against us, despite a three-run third inning that really got us going early. Up 4-3 in the top of the ninth, we couldn’t buy any insurance, but Cadenhead was locked in and got three quick outs in the bottom frame to get us the one-run win. We outhit them 8-7, and Cadenhead improved to 5-2 while walking three and allowing three runs (one earned). Steve Hopkins led the way with a hit and two RBIs, while Danny Graham added two hits but was unable to score. June 11, 1871: Tonight’s game was something of a reverse of yesterday’s, as we traded runs early and often, but after tying the score 3-3 in the top of the sixth thanks to a sac-fly by Bubba Masiello, we gave up two in the bottom of the inning to seal it. An RBI single in the seventh by Centeno kept us in the game, but we weren’t able to score in the top of the ninth and lost this one 5-4, splitting the series. Bjornson allowed ten hits and three walks, giving up five runs, four of which were earned ... dropping his record to 6-3 with a 1.79 ERA. They outhit us 10-9 and the two errors we did commit were costly ones. Chinea hit three times to nowhere while Graham added two hits a run and an RBI to his resume. June 12, 1871: We’re off to a 12-6 start as Haubstaudt (pronounced HOB-stot) comes into town with eight wins and ten losses. The game was tied briefly at 1-1 after three innings, but we got two runs off passed balls during the same plate appearance in the bottom of the fourth ... Fernandez scored off the first, and after advancing from second, Chinea scored from third before Centeno eventually flew out to end the inning with us up 3-1 ... which ended up being the final score after we held them scoreless the rest of the way. Cadenhead had a complete game as usual, with six hits, three walks, a strikeout and the one earned run, and we outhit them 12-6 ... we had four errors, but Chris Johnson had three hits and an RBI, and Chinea added two hits and a run. June 13, 1871: We’re back into a three-way tie for first in our division, and we’re among the six teams with 13-6 records atop the league standings. We took the lead this afternoon in the bottom of the first when Musselman and Centino pulled off a double steal, Musselman scoring off an E2 throwing error ... that was fun! Chris Johnson brought him home with a single, but we could have really run it up but instead left the bases loaded and took just a 2-0 lead into the second inning. They got on the board in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by their second baseman Jorge Fernandez, and a sac-fly moments later tied us up. We played around loaded bases and two errors in the top of the sixth to keep it that way, and we retook the lead off a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth on two outs, going up 3-2. We added on a run in the seventh, but they loaded the bases in the top of the eighth on one out, and Bjornson got wild, hitting their center fielder with a pitch to drive in a run. He got out of the jam, still leading by a run, and we were able to get through a tense top of the ninth with two runners in scoring position ... he held his own and we escaped with a 4-3 win without things getting out of hand. Bjornson only allowed five hits and three runs (two earned) but he walked seven batters against one strikeout, so he rode a fine line. We outhit them 13-5, which was our saving grace ... Graham had threee hits and a steal but couldn’t score, but Musselman was great in the leadoff spot, getting two hits, two stolen bases and scoring a run. He now has stolen 16 bases this season, which gives him a two-steal lead over his nearest competitor, Joe Kontor of Fort Branch. He’s been ideal in the leadoff spot so far, hitting .341/.356/.398 with five doubles and five runs batted in ... but he’s SCORED 24 runs, thanks mostly to his speed on the basepaths. June 14, 1871: We’re almost to the month’s midpoint, and we’ll finish a four-game homestand by facing Derby Baseball Club (7-13) who are currently in fifth place in our very competitive division. Derby struck quickly with a run off a wild pitch in the top of the first, and they scored another in the top of the second off a passed ball! When it happened again in the third inning (again on two outs, again with a passed ball) to put them up 3-0, it started to get in our heads ... we still hadn’t had a hit! We got on the board in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Steve Hopkins, but they scored two off a triple by their center fielder Emanuel Sierra to add on in the fourth, and this was not looking like our best afternoon. They gave us an opening in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of errors and a wild pitch, however, and Masiello got a two-run double to get us right back in contention. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth on two outs but couldn’t deliver any runs, and they got a run back in the sixth to extend their lead to 6-3. In the bottom of the sixth we scored off a wild pitch to cut it back to two, and Steve Hopkins batted in another with a single to make it a one-run game, but they got one back to send us into the stretch trailing 7-5. We kept them from scoring any more runs, but came up to hit in the bottom of the ninth needing something good to happen for our frustrated bats. But Derby was locked in, and they had no trouble stopping us as they won 7-5, a tough loss against a divisional foe. Cadenhead fell to 6-3 with a 1.61 ERA, allowing 10 hits and seven runs (three earned) with one strikeout, and though we outhit them 11-10 and they committed seven errors to our four, our bats just fell short in this one ... Steve Hopkins led the way with three hits and two RBIs, while Bubba Masiello added a hit, a walk, a run and two RBIs. June 15, 1871: We scored three runs in the bottom of the first and held a 4-1 lead in the top of the eighth, when Derby roared back -- they loaded the bases without an out, and Bobby Flores walked in a run to cut our lead to two in a dangerous spot. With one out, Bjornson gave up a fastball to Pat Pierce, their second baseman, who doubled in three runs to give them the lead. In a rare move, we pulled him for reliever Joe McDonald, who got us out of the inning without further damage. With two outs and runners on the corners, we tied the game up 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth when Alex Centeno reached first on an E1, scoring Alex Fernandez ... and we retook the lead when David Chesnut beat out an infield single on a fielder’s choice ... instead of going for the out at home, they threw late to first and Musselman scored from third! With our one run lead, McDonald came back out to finish the final frame, and he shut them down efficiently as we won 6-5. That gave him the win, improving his record to 2-1 with a 0.00 ERA, getting through 1.2 innings without a baserunner, protecting Bjornson who only lasted 7.1 innings with seven hits, two walks and five runs (three earned). We outhit them 11-7 and kept our errors to a minimum, which allowed us to hold them off and come back from the brink of defeat. David Chesnut led the way with three hits, a run and two RBIs, and we’ll reach the month’s midpoint with a 15-7 record and within a game of the division-leading Gatchel Baseball Club (16-6). Attached Images __________________ The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Last edited by jksander; 06-06-2025 at 09:58 PM.

06-07-2025, 12:22 PM	#6
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,528	OOC: I hope you guys find this interesting ... the idea's been germinating in my head since around when OOTP25 came out, but I kept setting it up and the financials weren't working. I think with the cash cap things are going to work alright for this era, and if I start seeing anything go crazy I can modify things in the offseason as commissioner-slash-God. I want to go through a few seasons with the league as it is, and then would potentially add a second league that would include the other five counties in the region, plus eventually creating a fictional "Major League" above us (since I'm doing the ORBL as an Independent Minor League. My thought on that would be to set it up as a Midwest major league with teams in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Louisville, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Kansas City -- two four-team leagues that then put on a World Series at the end of the season. But it makes sense to me that smaller independent leagues would start up before bigger money-making national teams. __________________ The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

06-09-2025, 01:23 AM	#9
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,528	June 16-30, 1871: The Grind Sets In June 16, 1871: It’s our first game of the year against the Boonville Baseball Club, and this one was a game for fans of scoring ... we picked up four runs in the top of the third and held a 6-3 lead midway through the sixth, but Boonville erupted for six runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a solid 9-6 lead on us. We went to the bullpen, bringing out Eric Behmer after the stretch, and they added two on in the bottom of the seventh inning. It wasn’t pretty at all, as they whipped us 11-6. Glen Cadenhead fell to 6-4 with a 2.32 ERA, allowing 12 hits in six innings with a walk and nine runs, all earned this time. They only outhit us 15-11, and Steve Hopkins was solid with three hits and a pair of runs. June 17, 1871: This time we didn’t back off early after taking the lead -- up 5-0 after two, we added runs in the third, fourth and sixth to lead 8-2 on the Boonville club heading into the seventh inning stretch. A three-run eighth helped turn it into a bigger rout than what they did to us yesterday, and we easily defeated them for the series split 11-3. Aaron Bjornsen has steadily gotten better and better, he’s now 8-3 with a 1.87 ERA thanks to a complete game with 12 hits, a walk, a strikeout and three runs (one earned), and we turned around and outhit them today 15-12. Tony Alegre led the way with four hits, a run and two RBIs, and leadoff superstar Randy Musselman added three hits and three runs, adding two steals as he did it. June 19, 1871: We’re back at home facing Lynnville (10-14), and we fought them hard though we trailed the entire way ... they picked up runs in the third, fifth and eighth, but we had a chance when we pulled within a run with a sac-fly by Alex Centeno in the bottom of the eighth. But we couldn’t make anything happen in the final frame and we lost this one 3-2. Glen Cadenhead continues to pitch well in games with little or no offense, and this time he allowed just eight hits in a complete game with three runs against him, one earned, but he got tagged with a loss and fell to 6-5 with a 2.21 ERA. Each team had eight hits, ours led by Centeno and Hopkins who each had a hit and an RBI. But in a game this close our three errors were three too many. June 20, 1871: This one was tight early on, knotted 4-4 after five innings, but we took the lead with a single and an E8 error in the bottom of the sixth, Danny Graham coming in to score that run. In the bottom of the eighth Tony Alegre scored off a passed ball, and we held on from there to win this one 6-4! Bjornsen improved to 9-3 with a 1.72 ERA, allowing nine hits and four unearned runs while throwing just 87 pitches! They outhit us 9-8, but commited six errors to our four, and Centeno led the way with two hits, a run and an RBI. So far the best pitcher in baseball has been Ricky Sandoval of the Holland Baseball Club. Sandoval has an 11-3 record through 14 starts, with a 1.22 ERA, 14 K’s and a 0.92 WHIP through 118 innings ... that gives him 2.4 wins better than any replacement pitcher would be able to theoretically put up. The 22-year-old has a curve and changeup that are damned near unhittable. The kicker is he’s only making $130 with their club! I suspect he’ll get a raise next year, though who knows by how much. Though Randy Musselman isn’t leading the league in average, he’s the best hitter in the game based on wins above replacement (2.0) ... so far through his first 24 appearances he’s hit .342 and has stolen 26 bases in 29 tries, contributing 34 runs scored in the leadoff spot, while holding a +2.9 zone rating in center field (only four errors, that’s incredible in this league!) So we’re very happy to have him, to the point that we’ve offered him an extension to assure he’ll play for us next year, offering him a raise from $200 to $250. June 21, 1871: We’re on the road against Princeton (13-13), one of the furthest teams in the league away from us geographically, and we played them well early on, building a lead slowly with runs in the first, third, fifth, and ninth. But despite our 4-1 lead heading into the final frame, nothing was gonna come easy here ... their fans were very loud and boisterous, and Glen Cadenhead got into real trouble, loading the bases with no outs. With McDonald warming in the bullpen, their catcher Manny Suarez reached on an error that scored a run and kept the bases loaded, and with two outs they walked in a run to make it a one-run ballgame! We brought McDonald out to the mound to get that final critical out, but the tying run scored thanks to an E5 error, so though we didn’t let them take the lead, this one was headed for extra innings after leading the entire ballgame. They won it in the bottom of the 10th when shortstop Andy Spencer scored off a passed ball to beat us 5-4. What an embarrassing loss. McDonald came in with the lead, so he took the blame ... blowing the save and falling to 2-2 with a 0.00 ERA, since his run was unearned. But the blame falls on Cadenhead for a sloppy ninth ... he finished with 8.2 innings and six hits, four walks and four runs (one earned). We outhit them 8-7, led by Steve Hopkins who had three hits, a run and two RBIs. June 22, 1871: Bjornsen had a rough start today, and with our team trailing 9-4 with bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth against Princeton we had no choice but to go to Eric Behmer in the bullpen. He promptly gave up all of Bjornsen’s runs off a triple on one out, and a two-run homer turned this into a complete and utter destruction of our morale. It’s a long season, but games like this make it feel a hell of a lot longer. We kept Behmer out there the rest of the way to give him more experience, but it was a lost cause before the game’s midpoint as Princeton crushed us 16-5, outhitting us 19-9. Behmer actually improved his ERA, lasting 4.2 innings with seven hits, a walk and four earned runs, while 12 runs (nine earned) went against Bjornsen, who fell to 9-4 with a 2.36 ERA. Alex Centeno and Danny Graham each had two hits, a run and an RBI, but this was our first time all year getting swept in a two-game series as we now fall to 17-11 overall. June 23, 1871: We’re back at home to play Fort Branch (14-13) and we’ve thus far failed to match the excitement of our late-May five-game winning streak, going 11-9 so far in the month of June. They took the lead first in the top of the second but we matched them, and it stayed close the rest of the way. We had a 4-3 lead heading into the top of the ninth, but Fort Branch got the lead with a two-run line-drive single on two outs, and in getting the final out we gave up another pair, going into the bottom of the inning trailing by three. That’s where it stayed, as Fort Branch beat us 7-4, extending our losing streak to three. Glen Cadenhead fell to 6-6 with a 2.33 ERA, allowing 11 hits, three walks and seven runs (five earned) with two strikeouts. We were outhit thoroughly 11-6, our bats led by Steve Hopkins and Chris Johnston with a hit and an RBI each (with Johnston also picking up a walk). Musselman added a hit and two runs and stole his 28th base as well. June 24, 1871: This one was close through seven innings, until Fort Branch broke a 3-3 tie by outscoring us 6-1 in the final two innings. We lost this one 9-4, another humilating loss compounded by EIGHT ERRORS. Bjornson fell to 9-5 with a 2.40 ERA, and though six of his nine runs were unearned, he did allow 11 hits while striking out just two batters. They again outhit us 11-6, Chris Johnston leading our offense with three hits and a run. Randy Musselman, who is still hitting .336 with 28 stolen bases, has agreed to a $250 contract for the 1872 season and is the first player to officially have a year more of job security in this league. June 25, 1871: We’re back on the road with our 17-13 record, facing off against the Birdseye Baseball Club and their 12-18 record. But with our four game losing streak, even a fourth place team in the Dubois Division looks daunting. And though we tied them up 4-4 with a three-run fifth inning, this game was pretty much the same as our most recent ones ... mid-game surge, end of game disappointment. We went into the top of the ninth trailing by three, and it didn’t change at all as they stumped us 8-5 and kept our losing streak going. Cadenhead fell to 6-7 and allowed 14 hits and eight runs, seven of them earned, while we got outhit 14-11. Centeno led the way with two hits, a run and two RBIs, but our offense (and our fielding in general) have been a letdown. There’s really not a ton of blame to put on our pitching ... there are nine players at any time contributing to this situation, and once the ball leaves his hand, he’s at the mercy of the other eight. June 26, 1871: Birdseye built an early 3-1 lead on us, but we tied it in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Alex Centeno and a sac-fly by Steve Hopkins, taking the lead 4-3 in the top of the eighth with an RBI single by David Chestnut! Still leading by a run in the bottom of the ninth, all we needed was to close things out, and finally things went our way ... three quick outs and we held tough to win 4-3! Bjornson finally got his 10th win of the year, improving to 10-5 with a 2.31 ERA while allowing seven hits and three runs (one earned) with a single strikeout. Each team had seven hits, ours led by Centeno with two hits and an RBI. June 27, 1871: It’s time for our first matchup of the year against our rivals from fifteen miles up the road, the Leopold Baseball Club! Leopold only has about 100 residents, but they and all the surrounding towns are fully supporting the team and its 19-13 record, and you could hear a vocal contingent of them who made the trip to see them on our field. We made quick work quieting them with a two-run bottom of the first, and then added two more runs to seal it in the bottom of the eighth. We held firm to beat them 4-0 in a brilliant shutout performance. They outhit us 8-7 and we committed a pair of errors, but our infield defense held. Cadenhead had one of his better games of the season, with eight hits and nothing else ... throwing 98 pitches as he improved to 7-7 with a 2.49 ERA. Ryan Carl had a good evening, hitting twice with two RBIs, and the win tied us with Leopold at 19-14, putting us at the top of a three-way tie for second in the division with Troy. June 28, 1871: We scored runs in the second, third and fourth to build a 3-0 lead early in this one, and Leopold got its only run in the top of the sixth. We picked up a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth to put the game completely out of their reach, as we swept the two-game series with a 5-1 victory! Aaron Bjornson led the way from the mound with five hits, two strikeouts and an unearned run as he improved to 11-5, the 17-year-old showing incredible promise. We’re now alone in second place in the division with 20 wins already to our name, and we’re a game out of a potential playoff wildcard spot a quarter of the way through our 140-game season. June 30, 1871: We’re set to play the Chrisney Baseball Club (17-17) on the road as the month draws closer to an end, and right now they’re only four games out of the wildcard, so like many teams we’ve yet to face we know going in they can do some damage. So we wanted to get out there and make a statement quickly. We got on the board with a run in the top of the first, but they matched us in the bottom of the frame, and this one stayed that way early. Cadenhead got us into the lead again with an RBI single in the top of the fourth, good going for our pitcher, and we added on with another in the top of the sixth to lead 3-1, a lead we held into the stretch. But we weren’t able to buy any insurance runs, so we went into the bottom of the ninth needing a lock-down frame. Cadenhead delivered, three quick outs, and we held tough to win 3-1. He pitched an incredible three-hit complete game, with one strikeout and the one (unearned) run, improving his record to 8-7 with a 2.34 ERA as he broke past the 150-inning threshold. We outhit Chrisney 10-3, led by Ismael Chinea who had three hits and a run, including a triple in the sixth, his second this year! __________________ The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

06-14-2025, 12:16 AM	#13
Brad K Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,608 Infractions: 0/2 (3)	Small town, like wow, I haven't heard of a lot of them. Did you consider putting a team in Gnaw Bone? __________________ . Pirates Play Moneyball 1951-2008 Ratings and League Totals Modifiers Settings and Auto-calc

06-14-2025, 01:05 AM	#15
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,528	And btw, good to see you in the thread, Brad I remember you being here back in the early 2000s when I was lurking mostly. It's cool to know there are still plenty of OG OOTPers still hanging about (Efit: There must be two Brad K accounts lol this one says 2016) __________________ The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Last edited by jksander; 06-14-2025 at 12:24 PM.

06-23-2025, 05:55 AM	#17
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,528	More updates coming soon ... I've been dealing with dental issues that have made it difficult to do more than keep up with my online leagues this past week. __________________ The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty

06-24-2025, 12:29 PM	#20
Brad K Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,608 Infractions: 0/2 (3)	The Pirates had some success but enough hardship to make it interesting. If I do it again I'll put short term injuries on high. __________________ . Pirates Play Moneyball 1951-2008 Ratings and League Totals Modifiers Settings and Auto-calc